Cold Taste
by Abigail Fond
Summary: -Sora/Naminé- The following vampire is intended for an older teen audience. He pertains violence, coarse language and relations to sexual content. Reader discretion is now advised. Warning: M-rating worthy. REVIVED SOMEWHAT.
1. Are You Ready?

Oh yeah, story number seven! And this is going to one of my best works, I can feel it :) Heys! to all of you who are reading another one of my stories or who _are _reading my work for the first time. I'm an avid KH writer/reader and I hope this new attempt of mine will please the community greatly. I've never really had a reason to write an AU before but this came to me after reading up on some multiple fanfics and supernatural articles; and plus, an AU is pretty fun once you get it going :) But, I'll stop the jabber so you can start reading. Well here you go, the first chapter of my latest project:

_Cold Taste_

_Disclaimer:_ All rights disclaimed, you know it.

Note: This story's rating will surely change to M after the next few chapters for adult themes and coarse language. Just to play it safe.

* * *

His fists slammed against the Victorian oakwood table

His fists slammed against the Victorian oakwood table. It cracked and split down the middle under his power, two legs shattering and crumbling to the ground. He growled angrily and with both hands, he threw the table at the nearest wall, not even bothering to look where.

"You can't be _fucking_ serious!!"

The other man who was across from him turned his head slowly. The table that was just between them moments ago in the centre of the room, was now in pieces at the foot of the wall. He scoffed under his breath.

"Wow, you made sure that table knew _all_ the potential of your strength."

"Don't try to change the subject, you bastard!"

He looked back to the other man.

"Now, why are trying to pin the blame on _me_? I only delivered the message. I'm not the one who carried it out. Don't call me a bastard for such accusations you don't even know."

The first man gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah, guess not…But that still doesn't stop me from hating you!"

Then he launched himself forward, his hands out in front of him and with the baring of his teeth. He was abruptly stopped in front of the other man, being caught in a grip around the throat. Trying to get free, he began clawing at his holder's hand.

The blood seeped down from the hand and dripped onto the rich burgundy carpet, it's colour mixing in with the tough fabric and the light of the lit candles in the room.

The captive man, inhaled sharply and coughed out a breath for air. He kept his eyes narrowed never once turning away.

"Y-your b…blood smells ..f-foul…Ughh….f-fucking bastard…"

His choke holder narrowed his eyes as well, while a look of deep annoyance stretched on his face.

"My, my …such a temper when you get really angry.."

And just as a quickly, the man being held was swiftly and harshly hit across the face, then dropped on his knees.

"Learn some goddamn respect, Sora."

Still on his knees, the one known as Sora kneeled there for quite some seconds, just drawing in long, raspy breaths that created a cool breeze around him and swayed his brown spiky hair in all directions. His grey shirt, ripped of both sleeves, shuddered over his tall lean body, its fabric rising and falling with the hard muscles of his chest and back. With his legs still kneeling on the floor, Sora supported his body with his arms on the carpet, the muscles on them rippled as he began to cough again. The silver, chained necklace around his neck swung carelessly beneath his face. Quickly after, he rose from the floor and stood bravely, unnerved of any nervousness or caution. He didn't bother to wipe the dust off his black jeans.

Sora looked up to the other man with a glare, while wiping the blood that was beginning to trickle down his cheek with the back of his right hand, and ignoring the bruise that was burning on his cheek.

Acting as if it never happened, the other man began to pace around the room, looking up admirably towards portaits and paintings that hung low on the rich red wall covered in gold-painted designs. His pace was slow and followed a haunting metronome-like pace that never faulted, even for a little.

Sora eyed him carefully through his bangs, suspiciously watching as the man went slowly round the room with his head locked to the walls. He didn't dare say a word but kept the glare locked.

Once the man had reached the other end of the room, he stopped walking upon reaching the darkened fireplace directly ahead of Sora at the back wall and stood before it for a few seconds.

Sora was about to take a step forward; his mouth ready to spill out questions and angry cuss words. But he had to stop himself.

"Sora,"

As soon as the words left the other man's lips, the fireplace before him erupted with a burning fire, its embers and flames flickered, tauntingly dancing like concubines across the hot-white logs. The heat from it immediately enveloped the entire room in a warm orange bath. What was scary in the dark room before, now seemed to be appear more eerie once the light shone in.

Sora didn't react to any of it; but narrow his electric blue eyes further to look like slits, hoping that somehow they could slice the man in front of him to bits and pieces. The other man waited for a moment before he continued. His front was still to the fireplace.

"You know this. For centuries, your family and mine have been linked to a lineage of great beings…great beings who, shared and melted their abilities into us…"

As he talked, Sora heard footsteps muffled above him on the second floor.

"…Intertwined, we, not as a people, but as a _family_, have dominated over many others, …hiding in secrecy, …and never once letting another being, _or beings_ stand in our way…"

While Sora listened to him, he also began to hear the footsteps move their way across the upstairs room towards the door that led to the staircases connecting the entire structure.

"…and with each generation, we grow only _stronger_…"

The footsteps echoed now in the staircase from the open door of the room Sora and the man were standing in.

"…because we pass on all our power and the power of those before us and of our ancestors…"

The footsteps were getting louder …which only meant they were coming the down stairs.

"…to the new ones…"

The footsteps were coming closer to their door.

"…but _only_ once they become a full."

At this, Sora ignored the footsteps and turned his attention completely to the man at the fireplace. Said man, put his left hand on the mantel of the fireplace and bent his back down a little, easing his balance on the outstretched. As he looked into the fireplace, he sighed heavily.

"Damn Sora, you're finally of age …which means …after all that I've told you and after all that we've taught you …when this is over, you'll be the most powerful of us all."

As those words escaped his lips, Sora heard the footsteps filing into the room, one by one walking in the same slow, haunting way that the man before him had just did. He didn't look back and kept his eyes still glued in a glaring manner at the same man in front the fireplace. From what he could hear and tell out the corner of his peripheral vision, about five people had just entered the room. Few more were still coming in and they were all wearing a same black material.

When the footsteps had stopped, Sora determined a total of ten people filed in the room. He couldn't tell if they were all men, all women, or a mix, but they were all lined up against the walls behind him and the air felt like it had been sucked out the room. Sora took a quick glance from right-to-left without turning his neck then moved forward, an angry look still on his face. He spoke with a dark tone.

"Nice of you to use such formalities of speech, but don't think for a damn minute I haven't been already thinking about that."

The man at the foot of the fireplace didn't move.

Sora waited and watched as the burning embers flickered, bouncing off the room. The heart of its light was blocked by the man in front him and as he was about two feet taller than Sora, his shadow cast a dark blanket behind him, shading Sora's already darkened features. He continued the glare, suddenly feeling his lip beginning to bleed again down his chin. But he made no move to wipe it the second time. And in the back of his head, he could swear he heard few of the other people that had just entered, suddenly breath in sharp intakes, inhaling the scent of his exposed blood.

Mindlessly ignoring them, he fisted his hands and began to growl low in the back of his throat again. He spoke again angrily.

"So …_what_?! You only bring me here to remind me of pointless stories I've heard over a million fucking times already?!"

"They are _not_ pointless!!"

The man at the fireplace whipped around to face him, his hands barred at his sides and his breath dangerously ragged. The sudden turn in motion had caused the fire behind to uproar quickly before subsiding back into its regular size. With his teeth clenched, the man still in front of the fireplace stood threateningly taller over Sora. Though said man did not seem to be faze. A couple of the people behind them, turned their heads slowly to look at the two of them. The man in front of the fireplace spoke.

"You should show a little more _respect_ for the _Strigoi_ heritage that which you come from..!"

Sora chuckled with a dark mockery in his voice.

"_Strigoi_? God, Ansem. What's so special about _that_ name?" Sora laughed.

"Why don't you just call us _vampires_ like normal people?"

Ansem's eyes widened.

Through his red eyes, he continued to watch Sora laugh to himself in cruel amusement. He walked up slowly to Sora, looking down on him hard with the desperate urge to strike a blow to the side of face.

His behaviour was of spiteful dishonour.

Ansem began lifting a clawed fist, just about to satisfy his own callings.

"Ansem, buddy… let _me_ do the honours…"

Turning to the assembled party, Ansem saw the man second closest to the door, step forward with a sly smile on his face as he graciously bend down slightly and opened his arms out in a bow-type gesture. Looking back to Sora, he noticed the shorter man give him a knowing smirk.

Growling grotesquely, Ansem lowered his fist to his side and walked back slowly to the fireplace where he bent his arm again on the mantel and dropped his head to stare into the flames, his silver hair falling around his tanned face. He spoke his last sentence for the rest of the night and remained silent.

"Yes, Axel. I give you the privilege..."

With a smug look and a low hum in his throat, Axel walked apart from the other people and went to move beside Sora, placing his hand on the shorter boy's shoulder. Sora took the chance to look at the other people lined up in the room. They varied in members of his family, male and female, dressed in ivory coloured dresses and trench coats. When he was done the look-around, he looked up at Axel with a small smile. Axel returned it then sighed softly. His green eyes glinted in the room's glow.

"You shouldn't provoke the guy. He may have been one the first to pop out before any of us, but you still gotta show some respect for legends like him."

Sora raised an eyebrow as his smile changed back into a smirk. Placing a hand on his hip, he turned to look at Ansem by the fireplace.

"Yeah well, it's not like _he's_ ever given some back. He's just mad I'll be stronger than him one day."

Axel laughed at his words.

"We _all_ are."

Sora chuckled. But this time it was out of genuine, happy fun and not for cynical amusement.

Turning his gaze back to Axel, he watched as the older man lifted his hand from his shoulder and walked around him to the old, oak desk on the right side of the room. The other people in the room followed his gaze. Upon reaching the desk, Axel placed one hand for balance on its edge and used his other to lift and move around papers that cluttered the top. He spoke while he was doing so.

"Sora, I don't need to tell you the story again like he did. You got it memorized, commited to memory. You know that once you turn 20, the powers of all the leaves in this family tree will be passed on to you… You don't have any younger siblings, so it won't be taken from you and you'll have it forever…"

Sora crossed his arms and continued to look at his friend at the desk. He was still smirking.

"Of course… at least, until I mate."

Axel looked up from his papers with a knowing smirk of his own.

"Don't get ahead of yourself …try to enjoy the power first."

Sora titled his head to side and uncrossed his arms, beginning to walk over to Axel at the desk. He laughed.

"I know. But you've all been training me, so it won't kill me."

To prove his point, Sora did an easy backflip and did a fly kick to the wall opposite of Axel, creating a gaping hole. Then dropping to the floor he did fifteen quick push-ups before pushing himself off the floor with his hands into a front flip, then gracefully landing in front of Axel, he brought a knife to his throat. He had been so silent with the final action that Axel was baffled and took a step back away from the weapon. Sora quickly concealed it back in his jeans and smiled up to Axel.

"See? Don't worry I'll be fine. You guys have taught me everything that you know I need."

A couple of soft sighs went around the room as some of the people still lined up behind Sora and Axel, relaxed in reassurance. Axel smiled then went back to collecting the papers.

"Yup, and there's more."

Sora raised an eyebrow as his face fell in deep thought of Axel's words. He dropped his gaze to the papers on the desk that Axel was working with.

"So, …what is this damn power anyway?"

Axel stopped and looked up from his bent position into Sora's face as he continued.

"I mean, since birth, you've all been telling me over and over that I'll be ready to receive _the greatest power_ _of our families' name and heritage, one that has been passed on from generations and generations, adding more as they continue on until each destined newborn becomes stronger than the last……_oooooh, exciting."

Axel chuckled.

"But since I'm the final descendant, shouldn't I at least get the final details of it all from you?"

Axel smiled.

"No."

At this response, Sora's face fell like a brick and he was about to quickly replace it with anger.

"…But you can get them from _me_."

Swiftly turning around, Sora watched as another person stepped out from the line of people on the right side of the room and began walking up to him. His face was smiling slyly in the fire's light. Sora blinked quickly then smirked.

"Roxas? Was wondering when you'd pop up. But…why do you get to tell me and not Axel?"

Roxas stood before Sora, slightly taller than him, looking down at his younger brother with an identical smirk. His blonde, _short_, spiky hair fell in his blue eyes and he moved his head to get them out of his view.

"Because for one thing, _I_ wanted to be the one to tell you so I told everyone to shut up. And for another, you already know that I have the power before you."

Sora looked at him still smirking and went back to crossing his arms.

"Awwh, you sad that I'm gonna take it from you? You can always fight for it back once I _do_ get it."

Roxas laughed and stretched his nose.

"Nah, it doesn't work that way, …and that's considering if you _can_ get it."

Sora dropped his face into a small pout, his arms began to uncross again.

"What d'you mean by that?"

Roxas stared at Sora then looked over behind his back. Axel gave him a nod and Roxas put on a small smile and turned back to his brother then walked back and forth in front of Sora. He began.

"…All the members of our family, male and female, will get the power of our heritage when they are the next line to obtain it… Once a new generation of members is formed, the power can go through that line from the oldest sibling to the youngest, so each family member can get it… That's why being an only child can pay off."

Roxas smirked and Sora rolled his eyes, but he kept smiling.

"Just skip to what _it_ is, already.

"I'm getting there!" Roxas continued.

"The power _can_ go through each family member. However, if the next one in line fails to be …uhm, …_worthy_, if you put it that way, then the power can't continue on through that generation. Other little siblings after the one that fails can't get the power because it can't skip in line. It would remain in the same person it was before and stay there forever."

Sora nodded.

"Yeah, until the one with the power decides to have offspring, then the line begins again with the new generation."

Roxas nodded.

"You got it… You're lucky. Only an only child or the youngest sibling can send the power on to their offspring. The older ones have to _give it up _to their younger brothers and sisters_._"

Sora rolled his eyes again and placed one hand to support his body on the desk.

"I already know this part, so why are you repeating it? Since you and I are the final generation, it's our turn to get the power. And since _you're _the older one, you got it first. Now it's my turn. But what exactly _is_ the power?"

Roxas furrowed his eyebrows and made a sound in the back of his throat.

"Geez, you're so impatient. Who stuck a rod up your ass?"

Not even bothering to turn, Sora shot a thumb over in the direction of the Ansem's figure.

"He did."

Roxas looked over. Seeing that Ansem was clenching his fists and mumbling incoherent words, which Roxas guessed were cusses, he turned back to look at his brother and laughed. Sora smiled then he raised an eyebrow. Roxas continued smiling.

"It's wolf transformation and immortality."

Sora blinked then tapped his index finger on his chin looking up at the ceiling. After a moment he looked back down with a mischievous smile and a gleam in his eyes.

"Wolf transformation huh? Hmm, that's…a little more _this century_. But I like it more than that whole bat-thing… and immortality is a fine touch."

With an afterthought, he smirked to his brother.

"Does this mean I'll get to watch you die when I out live you?"

Roxas laughed and nicked his younger brother gently upside the head.

"Sorry bro, I'm already immortal."

Sora stared at Roxas wide-eyed with his mouth falling open.

That was a shocker.

Sora stumbled for words.

"B-but I thought …don't I get _all_ the power?"

Roxas waved a finger in his face with a happy grin.

"Just because you become the strongest heir-in-line once you get the power, doesn't mean you get it all."

He laughed.

"We all still have the power… It's just you get it last and you get the most."

Sora pouted his face again and crossed his arms, looking sideways to the floor.

"Damn, I thought I was the only one."

He heard Axel and Roxas chuckle, along with some of the other people in the room. Ansem, of course, stayed silent. Sora looked up after a minute to smile at them.

"Awh well, at least once I get it, I can hold onto it. Maybe I won't want to have kids."

"Come now, let's get serious."

They abruptly stopped chuckling as another person from the line on the left side wall, third closest to the door spoke loudly. Her tone suggested to them that she was impatient and getting annoyed. Almost instantly, the mood in the room changed and everyone fell back into their quiet, dark demeanours. Sora began to glare again; everything was feeling like it did when he was alone in the room with Ansem, minutes before.

Roxas nodded sharply, putting on a glare as well.

"Yes, of course."

Uprooting himself from his spot, Roxas began walking the carpet again in front of Sora, trying to string together good enough words. Sora waited patiently as Roxas took a breath.

"Alright,…"

Axel watched his behaviour and rolled his eyes.

"Come on Roxas, just say it. It can't be _that_ hard."

Roxas gritted his teeth and growled gently, turning to look at the fiery, spiky, redhead. (A lot of people in this family had spiky, gravity-defiant hair styles.)

"Argh…I'm just thinking _how_ to say it to him, is all."

Sora grunted and crossed his arms again, tightening his fists between them. Whatever Roxas had trouble saying, must be pretty good …or bad. Sora wasn't really sure how it worked anymore, living with all these karmic people.

Finally coming out with words, Roxas turned to look at his brother.

"You can't have the power until you pass the ritual."

Fearing what he thought, Roxas watched as Sora's face paled in comparison to the fireplace's glow and all sign of emotion except for anxiety was wiped from his face.

"See? Now was that so bad?"

Axel walked back to his place in line between the other family members and watched the scene unfold between Roxas and Sora. This was a brother moment.

Sora scoffed and placed his hands on his hips.

"Is that all?"

Roxas gulped – the image of his seven-year-old little brother's grinning face flashed itself in his mind. He was stunned for a couple seconds.

"Roxas?"

Coming out of it, he saw the image disappear and his current brother looking back up at him with some concern in his eyes. Roxas coughed and averted his eyes to the floor, trying to ignore his emotions.

This was the day, he had been waiting for. What _Sora_ had been waiting for. They both wanted him to have the power; and that was all he had to think about. Nothing else would get in the way of that. Wiping his mind clean of nagging thoughts, Roxas looked back up to him with a proud smile and continued,

"You've got 15 days."

Sora titled his head to the side and furrowed his eyebrows, waiting for him to continue. Roxas held up a hand counting the steps with his fingers.

"First, you've got to drink blood from an unsuspecting male victim."

Sora nodded confidently.

"Then, you have to kill a criminalized thug and leave his corpse near the stairs of a cathedral."

Sora smirked.

"That'll be fun."

"And last,…"

Roxas waited till he locked eyes with Sora in a serious gaze before he continued. Sora understood the final task was going to be the most important. Roxas held out three fingers.

"…and last…you've got to find virgin, mortal female and hypnotize her."

Sora smirked with a devilish glint in his eyes.

"Now, that's what I'm talking about. Of course, it won't be hard to hypnotize her, seeing as you and I both inherited good l—"

"Then you have to bring her back here to the castle…

…and bed her...

…then you leave your mark on her."

There was a pause.

Sora stopped whatever he was doing and thinking. Then he came back to his senses and was blinking up at Roxas.

"W-what? That quick? Just like that?"

Roxas walked some more in front of Sora, his eyes looking forward, but seeing nothing in particular. He spoke in a calm, cool tone.

"It's different for the females in our family, naturally. They have to find males. But it all still rides on the same thing… after you do all that, in that order,… you'll get the power."

When Roxas was done, he turned to look at Sora.

Sora bent his head down and stared at his right hand. His fingernails had grown quickly in the past hour. No longer were they short, but lethal claws that were finely pointed like razorblades. He'd have to clip them again when this was all over… and he'd had done it twice the same day already.

Furrowing his eyebrows together, he looked up curiously to Roxas. The said brother was smiling at him with his arms crossed. He already knew what Sora wanted to ask.

"So,…who did you find?"

Roxas smiled warmly and more genuinely than he had before appearing to Sora.

"Someone perfect…Hey."

Roxas called out to her in the room, until a dark silhouette melted out from the wall behind him. Walking slowly toward him, Sora watched as she gracefully made her way across the room to stand beside his brother. Taking a good look at her, Sora's mouth hung slightly open. She wore a simple red dress that went down to her ankles. It didn't fan out like a waterfall at her waist, but fell straight down, rippling in a more modern-style. Its silken fabric, embroidered with thread designs of swirling, black roses, clung to every curvaceous part of her body; and Sora knew just _how_ curvaceous she was, as her hips swayed from side to side with each step she took. Her chest swelled from inside the dress and before Sora was caught staring at the exposed flesh from her V-line, he redirected his gaze to the black-diamond choker around her neck. Coming up to her face, he saw she wore no makeup except for some red lipstick and watched as her slowly battered her long eyelashes in a dreamy way. Her blue-eyed gaze glued to Roxas' face, she lifted up a delicate hand and flipped back some of her ruby, red hair.

"Hey, lover…"

Her voice was light but sultry, almost like she had just woken up from a good night of… _sleeping._

She came to stand behind Roxas, who instinctively went to wrap his arms around her waist. After looking into her eyes, he laid a kiss possessively on her lips and savoured some two, long minutes.

Sora coughed loudly then smirked when his brother lifted his head up and stared back at him with a flushed face. Lifting one hand from the woman's waist, Roxas scratched the back of his head, laughing nervously.

"Right, sorry… Sora, this is Kairi."

Kairi nodded her head to Sora with a dreamy smile, then went to closing her eyes and leaned her head against Roxas' chest. She was a head shorter than both brother's and she looked about Sora's age.

Sora smiled back at her and then shifted a sly grin to Roxas.

"_Damn_ brother, you got a nice one. Careful, I might steal her."

Roxas stood in front of Kairi with a dangerous look on his face. He brought up a hand to show his claws.

"Watch it, Sora. The high punishment for stealing or even _trying_ to steal another vampire's mate is dismemberment."

Sora chuckled and swatted a hand at Roxas' claws.

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

But in the back of mind, Sora knew that if Roxas hadn't had found Kairi, _he_ probably would have.

Roxas dropped his defense and smiled to Sora confidently. He knew his brother wasn't one to actually act out what he implied, if it meant that he, himself as the brother, would have to kill him for it. They were too close to let something like that happen.

"So, you ready? Just think about how much stronger you'll be when you come through with this."

Sora pumped his chest with his fist and straightened his posture with a flashy smile. He nodded. Roxas smiled warmly to him, his eyes lidded halfway.

"My little brother… the family's strongest Strigoi…"

Sora chuckled and moved away from his brother then began walking down the carpet.

"Awh great, not you too?"

Roxas laughed and went to put his arm around Kairi's waist again. She was still smiling dreamily up at him then she turned to look at Sora like he did.

Sora was walking further down the room on his way to the open door, nodding to each of the other family members as he walked past them. Then before going out the door, he took his own long, black trench coat off the elegant brass coat hook and put it on, leaving it fully open unlike his other family members – and Roxas who had his unbuttoned halfway. Roxas blinked then widened his eyes.

"Y-you're not leaving _now_, are you…?"

Sora stopped just before going through the door. Turning his head, he gazed to all the people and to every item in the room, giving them one more look. His eyes fell on Axel, who gave him a wave of his finger and a smile. Sora turned to smile back him then went to look at Roxas. Roxas was staring at him, his eyes shining with a bit of concern in the fireplace's dying light. They _had_ been in the room long. Sora smirked then spoke.

"Don't worry. I'll be back in no time. I'll have the blood, the criminal,…"

His eyes drifted to Kairi. She stared at him with warm eyes. He looked back to Roxas.

"…and a mate."

Roxas smiled warmly. Sora returned it.

"Next time you see me, I'll be the strongest _Strigoi_ this family's _ever_ had… _Right, _Ansem?"

Ansem growled from his frozen position at the fireplace mantel. Sora chuckled.

"…. Catch ya later, big brother."

With a wave, Sora sprinted out the door and ran up the spiralling stairs to his right, then gaining speed, he launched himself towards a window and shattered its glass as he broke through. Sora was in mid-air for a couple seconds before gravity began pulling him down to the forest floor, two storeys beneath his feet. With his inhuman strength however, he bent his knees inwards and increased the speed of the fall, before stretching out his legs about a quarter of the way down. Landing on the ground, he hit it without the slightest ease, barely creating a ripple of a breeze in the grass around him. Then pulling up to a stand, the six-foot twenty-year-old turned back to look at his family's castle. With the sunrise poking out from behind the tall, dark towers, Sora covered his eyes with his left hand and hissed slightly. Though, it did not affect him.

_Morning was coming._

Without one more glance to the window he had just broken through, Sora grinned slyly, licking his elongated white fangs as he did so. Then, he went into a sprint again, going into the small clearing little ways from the castle and headed for the suburban city that lay at the feet of the mountainside below, leaving behind his large Romanian-style home and promising not to return until he had found the final ingredient to his needed recipe.

Roxas looked through the broken window, his hands on its inside windowsill. He sighed heavily and dropped his head. Feeling a warm hand come to lay on his shoulder, he immediately smiled and placed his own atop it.

"You okay?"

The light, sultry voice brought him out of his dump. Roxas then turned to Kairi, nodding his head. Smiling, she ran her hands through his blonde hair. Axel came up to the both of them. Roxas looked up at him.

"It's that I don't believe he can do it. He can… I know it."

Axel knowingly smiled.

"But, you just don't know how much he can take…"

Roxas nodded slowly.

"I-I just hope he knows what he wants…and _how much _he'll want of it."

Axel came up right beside Roxas and Kairi, placing a hand on the older brother's shoulder.

"I don't think Sora's that type to crave for more killing…"

Roxas looked sideways uncertainly.

"…it's not the blood I'm worried about him lusting for …well, at least not _just_ the blood…"

Axel chuckled then lifting his hand from Roxas' shoulder, he moved to the shattered stain-glass window.

"Sora's different. Anyone can easily tell that about him... He's too good-natured to let something like this take over him."

Roxas kept his gaze where Axel had been before in front of him. He sighed again with a small smile then looked back up to his friend.

"At least the meeting's finally over..."

As Roxas spoke, Kairi wrapped her arms around his waist and rubbed her cheek against his chest, not even listening to him. Her dreamy smile still played on her lips.

...

* * *

Whew! That took 5 hours, four bathroom breaks, one really angry mom, and a bowl of yakisoba noodles lol There you have it! :) I know, this type theme is done _wayy_ too many times, but I couldn't resist. The thought seemed just right. Don't think you have it all down and know what's going to happen. I might surprise you ;) And if some things went undetailed in this chapter, thats how I'll leave it to get you thinking till the next one. I hope to update soon but if i don't, keep me on alert, kay? Because I _will_ finish this story :) Alright, with more to come and imagination to share, I hope you'll stick around for Chapter 2!  
Leave a review! And thanks for stopping by :)


	2. Day 1

I can't believe it took a freaking year to update the 2nd chapter. A thousand apologies to the readers because on the brink of writer's block and deciding to cancel this dream, it all came back. So here's a bit for the new years:

_Cold Taste: Day 1_

Note: Thanks so much for the hits everyone :) I've never hit over 100 in the first week this was published. I remembered! ...cuz I marked it lol.

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"_Thsssss_…Ha! …Shit."

The deep tone of his whispered curse seemed more booming as it reverberated around the small but poorly-furnished room.

As he bent low over his legs to reach for the chain on the creaking hardwood floor, the mattress he was sitting on moaned and squeaked over the weak springs, throwing dust from its unused sheets into the air and into his senesces.

He blinked slowly, once in a while glancing over to where the bright sunlight of early morning was penetrating its way through the moth-eaten, maroon-coloured curtains and with the movement of his arms, more dust seemed to whirl around his face. He didn't make a sound, thinking about how fragile the atmosphere was within the room and that somehow the feeling of something else being there with him, wasn't.

The room would never have any way of comforting someone, let alone making them feel safe. It was located in at the top floor of an apartment where murders, rapes, and suicides had occurred too many times previous to count and while its history for such things was enough for it to be vacant and even teared down, the very reason it is still up was why he is in there in the first place. That much Sora knew.

Once he had secured the chain at his hip, he wrapped it thrice around his left hand and made a tight fist. The constricting pain, made him clench his jaw lightly and he wiped his brow when it came to perspiration. Once his triceps were pumped up near the elbow, he waited until the blood started to flow and break through his skin. Once it did, he uncoiled the thin chain and dropped it at his side on the bed. The pain had ceased but the flex had left his arm all tingly. And as he flicked his bright blue eyes around the room some more (which flecked a bright yellow for a moment), he continued to lick the blood seeping from the bite.

Once he had had a quick drink, he sighed and lifted his mouth away.

"I'll give it a few seconds."

"Geez Sora, why do you have to do that like that? For God's sake, you're only drinking your blood. Cut the creep out."

Sora lifted his head up in the direction in the voice and his bright brown bangs swayed in his eyes. When he lifted a finger up to push them aside, he flashed a small grin when he discovered who it was.

"Riku."

The said person walked up to Sora from his standing post in a shadowed corner of the room.

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"I want this done as quick as possible."

Sora had taken his previous place in the apartment room to the roof's edge of the building. Riku followed and was now standing beside his best friend kneeling on its cement exterior. While their vampire traits gave them excellent balance coordination on high posts, they also lavished in the feel of lofty places. Sora and Riku enjoyed it as a favourite pastime, especially on the rooftop of the abandoned apartment complex where no one dared to come to, let alone see them.

"Heh, I know you do. Greatest vampire-in-line, top _Strigoi_…You'll be the best."

Riku, an old friend of Sora's family was his best friend from as long as they could remember. Like Sora, he had to go through his own completion of tasks to become a full vampire but Riku had a complication of dark pasts and rough times. He was certainly more different and apart from Sora's family, but they took him in anyways. Standing there now at his permanent age of 22, Riku wore a full set of black, jeans, shirt and all, with a thick dark trenchoat like the one's Sora's family but open to expose his chest under his like his best friend.

"It's not that Riku…well, not _just_ that."

"Then what?"

"I mean, I want task one out of the way. It's so stupid what they want me to do. Such a waste of my ability."

"Oh, you mean the male bite?" He snorted then smirked.

"Oh course, it's a waste. You can do so more damage than that, I've seen you." At these words, Sora mind got a slight kick of guilt. He hated creating intentional damage ...but hated more to admit it. So he shoved the soft, conscience crap into the back of his mind and reverted back hard into the sleek, sexy killer profile.

"They only want that from you because it's been tradition for your family for years. You show respect by doing that."

"Yeah…"

"And besides, task two and three will be such a great make-up for it."

Sora smirked.

"Definitely. I've already started scoping out potential mate targets for the day…Let me tell you, there's a lot of hot ones in this city." He sighed happily.

"Good thing we chose to live here." Riku rolled his eyes.

"And the criminals?" Sora scoffed.

"They're crawling everywhere. I'm surprised not a lot of women are raped in broad daylight 24/7." Sora grunted then bent up from his position on the roof's edge and stood up to stretch.

"Besides, it's not like that won't be hard. I can do it the same day I do task one."

Riku pointed a finger to Sora.

"You know they have to be different victims right?"

Sora shrugged his shoulders and smiled evilly.

"Never know, the criminal could be female."

Riku shook his head. He turned to face the horizon in the direction the city faced. On impulse, he opened up his giant black bat-like wings and flexed them in the wind.

"So, when you thinking of starting?"

"Hmm, dunno. Might start tonight if the weather's good."

Riku chuckled.

"Yeah, whatever. Just start soon kay?" Riku got up and began getting to leave. Sora turned his head nonchalantly to face the direction in which Riku was facing. Before Riku turned to leave, he turned to face Sora.

"Oh, and Sora?" Sora turned his head.

"Hmm?"

"Don't pick some dumb bimbo chick. Find a smart, classic woman who's a _real_ beauty."

Sora blinked. A quick flash of Kairi crossed his mind. He squinted his eyes for a moment then flashed a genuine small to his best friend.

"Don't worry, I'm smarter than that. I'll make sure she's who I _really_ want."

Riku nodded seriously.

"Count on it." He walked up to Sora and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You're a different type of _Strigoi_ Sora. Everyone knows it. You'll be unique because you're different. I guarantee you'll be one of the best vampire leaders."

Riku smiled back to Sora and then punched him in the arm.

"So don't ruin this by sucking hard at what you can do best."

Sora rubbed his arm and pretended to look hurt.

"Ouch, that hurts."

Riku gave him a look with a lifted eyebrow. He scoffed then perched on the roof's edge. He flexed his wings to take off. Sora nodded his head with a smile and Riku did the same. Then he spread his wings and jumped off. After catching some wind in his wings for elevation, he took a dive down the building and disappeared in the shadow of the neighbouring buildings.

Sora kept his gaze onto where Riku had disappeared then lifted his head back to the outlook of the city. The wind caught his hair again and blew in his eyes but he took no movement to push them away.

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Later that night, in the darkness of a back alley, a middle-aged businessman was caught around the neck.

"W-what the hell?!" he managed to choke out from his head-locked position.

As he continued to struggle against whatever was holding him, he dropped his brown briefcase. It's locks broke open and his files and papers blew in the wind.

He pulled against the arm, jerking left and right trying to find a space for an air pocket to breathe from, but the grip was like iron and he couldn't yank it off.

His mind was going into hysterics and the world around him was dizzying into blurriness.

Just when he was about to vomit, he was roughly pushed against the wall with his front body taking the hard impact. The wind was completely knocked out of him and he couldn't remember where he was for a brief moment.

As quick as it was done, he was suddenly pulled back from the wall and was standing. He then remembered he was back in the alley with an assaulter.

The knock to the wall that had taken what little of his air he had left, he could barely support himself on his own two legs let alone pull off the arm latched around his neck.

And when it seemed he would pass out from the lack of oxygen, the arm was suddenly gone from his neck and all the air rushed back into his lungs.

A sense of relief washed over the man and he was about to bring his hand up to his neck to check his pulse and turn to see what had happened. A hand on his shoulder and another on his neck froze him unable to do so.

The grip and suddenness of it was so frightening that it momentarily struck him paralyzed.

It was in that moment of his brief state of shock, that Sora took the advantage to sink his elongated fangs into the man's neck and drain all the blood from him.

Task one – was complete.

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Sorry, I know it's short compared to the first chapter but this seems easy on the eyes to read better than a 15-page chapter right? Heh, don't get to comfortable though :) They'll grow long to vary. I am determined to end this, no matter how long it takes.

Kay thanks everyone, don't forget to drop a review!


	3. Day 2

This should make you all happy, think of it as sort of like an apologize to make up for my long leave :) I couldn't stop writing after the last chapter so I've got chapter three lined up and ready for you a day after the posting chapter two. Thanks to all my reviewers and readers out there who didn't give up on me when I almost gived up on myself. Here's hoping you like the third installment of:

_Cold Taste: Day 2_

Note: If this chapter's title is a bit unclear, the first and second chapter both happened on the same day. Hope that clears up any confusing thoughts on last chapter and this chapter. Oh, and this is a long one so you better get comfy. And if anything goes unexplained, don't worry it will be later on in the story.

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With a heavy plop, Sora tossed a brown bowler hat on the ground before Axel. Aware of the dense thump it made when it hit the dark red carpet, Axel raised an eyebrow and looked mildly interested to the hat.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Sora shrugged his shoulders and shoved a hand into his pocket. As he looked to be rummaging around for something within it, he flicked his eyes from Axel to the hat and grinned slyly.

He had returned back to the family manor not even a full 24 hours after he expertly busted through the high window by the staircase. As expert as it was though, the rest of family did not find it as impressive. They were both currently in the east wing parlour room. The rest of the family was off somewhere, as they always were.

Removing his attention from the hat to the younger man, Axel raised his eyes slowly to fix on Sora's face. His eyes grew slightly in size when he noted the quick action Sora made to lick his lips. There was fresh blood on his mouth being wiped away by his tongue.

Axel quickly threw his focus on the hat and saw it soaked blood in places. He did not notice it before because he wasn't really paying it any attention. Seeing it now made him both proud and disgusted of his young cousin. It was a common thought among all vampires.

"Congratulations Sora, you've finished task one." He looked back to Sora and had a small smile on his face. Sora nodded.

When Sora was sure he had Axel's attention, he withdrew his hand from his pocket and pulled out what he was fidgeting around for. Walking up to Axel, he extended his hand to give him a black leather wallet. Axel took it and opened it to the card ID where the photo of a middle-aged man with grey sideburns was placed. Sora walked past Axel to another point in room where he stood with his arms crossed, looking out the window where pale sunlight broke through.

"..Was some businessman for a small corporate office in the downtown district… Age 47, divorced, had one kid… that's all I could find out about him…"

Axel stared into the picture of the man's face some more then closed the wallet, sighing heavily. He turned to Sora.

"Sora…you know you're not supposed to find personal information about your victims…it just makes it harder for you to—"

Sora growled softly in the back of his throat.

"Ugh, I know that! I only found out his age and marital status from his ID card after I hid him in the alleyway and took the wallet… just hearing what he did and who he has left in his life was when I overheard him talking to a co-worker before he left for home."

"Sora, you're not supposed to choose one within a building! Only randomized on the street."

Sora turned to Axel.

"Well then, why didn't you guys say that when you told me to do the damn task?"

Axel opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it. Sora saw this and took to walking right in front of him, looking up at him with his eyes glaring.

"I was told to find an unsuspecting man wandering the streets alone then kill him. You didn't mention anything about a restriction from doing indoor surveillance. So I did what you told me. I got an unsuspecting man and took his life. There, be proud."

Sora backed away from Axel a bit and turned his back to him to face another wall. Axel looked down to the ground and was left without words, unable to think of anything to say that would make the situation better.

Sora ran a hand through his messy brown locks and sighed deeply. He slouched his shoulders a little.

"You know Axel, ….I just killed a man."

Axel raised his head to stare at the back of Sora's head.

"I-I've never………. Roxas, Riku, you, the rest of the family…I was always _given_ a meal since I've been little, whether it meant an entire family feeding, if it was just Roxas going out and getting me some animal, or even just me feeding on my own blood… Since I knew that it'd be my first time hunting for human blood on my own…I was scared.'

'It didn't feel right for _me_ to take the life of another person… and then…' Sora looked at his hands and claws.

'All these feelings… of regret…remorse…even if and when I do become the strongest _Strigoi_, it still burns my heart a whole lot…'

'…But…"

Sora tightened his hands into fists, so tight that his claws broke the skin and red blood oozed down his palms. Sora stood wide-eyed for a minute. Axel saw this began walking up to him, his arm beginning to pull up to touch Sora's shoulder. He sighed dramatically.

"Aww hey cousin, c'mon.. don't get soft on me already."

"…that's the thing, though."

Axel stopped midway. Something in Sora's tone made him sound more husky, dark…somehow a little bit more awakened. Axel blinked his eyes but kept a tight line of his mouth. He wasn't scared, but cautiously curious.

Sora's hand continued to keep in a balled fist, the blood dripping down from his knuckles onto the dark carpet. He turned his head to Axel and smiled sheepishly.

Axel glared lightly… There was something about the way he smiled that didn't suggest the kindness and good that always came with Sora's handsome smiles.

"….even though the moralities were there and I felt my heart grow painful when I killed…"

Sora's eyes suddenly changed from the mesmerizing ocean blue to a fiery golden yellow. He smirked devilishly.

"Axel…. I liked it."

Axel widened his eyes.

"W-…what?"

Sora turned his body fully around to face his older cousin, opening and closing his fists. He made no move to ease the flow of the blood from his cold hands, pretty much unaware of it.

"Axel, it was… the rush! T-that feeling was …I can't even tell you how good it felt. The smell could have been better, but …ugh! I needed more! There was so much blood that I couldn't …I just c-couldn't…"

Axel hurriedly rushed over to Sora where the young man's body was shaking. Sora's breathing grew heavy and his nostrils flared. His head was down but through his chocolate bangs, Axel could see Sora's yellow eyes swivel around in all different directions… His killing instincts and the lust for blood was beginning to take over him.

Axel quickly reacted by rushing to Sora's behind, then gripping his cousin's arm, he bent it back forcefully, enough to cause Sora to drop to his knees but not enough to break it. Sora's senses were pitched from the action and it caused him to growl angrily. As his yellow eyes flew in difficulty to Axel's face, Sora beared his teeth, to which his fangs had elgonated to their lethal point. As Sora tried to flex his other free arm to swipe his claws around at the older man, his nose sniffed around wildly, catching the smells of different bloods and incenses coming off of hundreds of people within the city's area.

Sora's eyes widened. How was he able to do that? He had never been able to pick up smells from that far away before… they were all so different…so near…he knew that if he could break Axel's neck after this, he'd run straight down to the city and get a drink of everyone he could get his hands—

"Sora! Stop! You've got to stop your vampiric instincts! I know, the smells …ugh, shit! They're intoxicating, but you have to stop!"

—Sora heard Axel's voice. How did he know about the smells? Could Axel smell them too? And what vampiric instincts? Sora was fine. He'd be damned if he could tell him what to do!

Sora began to lash his free arm out, trying to hit Axel from behind. While Sora could have been strong enough to throw Axel's arm off, his inability to think straight had caused him virtually immobile. The swipe from his claws cut through the air so fast and so near, Axel had to move back some but did not let go of Sora's arm.

Sora cried out in anger, his eyes flashing from blue to yellow and his mouth developing a slow run of saliva down from where his fangs sat over his lip. To hell with Axel! When he could find the advantage, Sora was going to claw out his throat and drink down the blood of his cousin, then he'd run off and find where Roxas hid Kairi within the manor's walls and claim her right on the carpet floor—

"Sora!" Axel applied more force to his hold on Sora's bent arm. The rush of white-hot pain caused him to scream out and lean forward, throwing his free arm from trying to thrash at Axel to clawing at the floor. The muscles in his arm rippled with a shiver as he found strength in tearing at the carpet beneath him.

"Sora listen to me, you're having your first overdose. Try to have a clear mind. Come back!"

Sora's hand on the carpet tore at the thread, ripping holes in the fine design of its patterns.

"Sora, can you hear me? You don't want to kill like this! This isn't what you want, you know it!"

Axel's voice sounded clouded and far away in Sora's mind. Was he close? Sora shook his head violently, throwing his wild spikes around his face. He had to try and reach for his voice. No! He wanted to kill….

"You just told me about your guilt of killing. The remorse, the regret! Sora, you've got a heart if you think that!"

Sora wanted blood… He wanted screaming… he wanted her clothes ripped up and tossed aside while he—

"Sora!"

Axel's voice finally broke through to Sora as his body stopped all movement. The lustrous fog clouding over his mind had cleared and he was left with a wave of fear and confusion rushing in. Sora dropped his head forward and let his clawed hold on the carpet go limp. As he knelt there breathing heavily, his yellow irises flushed back to bright blue and his elongated fangs grew back to their original size. The chain around his neck swung violently beneath his face like it did the day before when he had a fight with Ansem and he was struck to the ground.

Axel eased his hold and push on Sora's arm, lifting it back out of the bend. He went to kneel beside Sora with concern on his face.

"You gonna be okay?"

Sora continued to pant heavily and lifted his face up to Axel's. The said cousin was relieved to see his face and emotion back together. Sora's eyes were watery and as he went to wipe the saliva away off his chin, he looked distressed.

"W-what was wrong with me!?"

Axel sighed and looked down to the spot on the carpet where Sora had left a mess of pulled up threads, ripped open seams, and long drawls of claws marks left on the rest of the carpet's surface.

"You're experiencing a first time kill-and-feed of a human on your own, so you've never actually known the effect it can take on you." He got up to stand over Sora's still shaken body.

"It's more powerful than a mere animal's, and the smell can be drive even most sane vampires mad… makes them want to go on a killing spree for more." Sora dropped his head in guilt. Axel didn't need to hear him say it to know he had been thinking it.

"Humans… eh, I don't know. Something about their blood that spikes like a steroid in us…once you sink your teeth into a fresh once, there's this smell in their blood that hypes our senses, makes your mind go off somewhere where you… You're lucky though, you made it all the way here before it affected you… Anyway, that's why our family was going to forbade the drinking of human blood."

Sora looked up to Axel.

"We were?"

"Yeah, Ven a couple years back wanted to forbid it. Said human blood wasn't good for us because our power is especially too strong to handle alone on instincts… _Strigoi _lose all control of their minds and they can't come back unless they're painfully subdued into recollection of mind. At one point centuries ago, all our other relatives were forced to dismemberment because they couldn't get back their minds after going out on a family drinking spree…. Remember?"

Sora looked down; his breathing had slowed to a steady pace but was still thick with composure.

"Yeah, that was the …Punishment of 1612. Roxas told me about it and other gruesome stories about our family when we were younger. Heh, I always liked hearing them over and over again."

Axel took this as a sign that Sora had returned to normal and began to walk around him to face him.

"You gonna be okay now?"

Sora picked himself off the floor and rubbed the arm and shoulder that Axel had bent.

"Yeah, but tell me more about this….The next time I go feeding on my own again, will it happen? And fuck, why didn't you guys tell me to watch out for shit like that? You're lucky I didn't have that overdose effect when I was out in the open alone."

Axel looked deep into Sora's eyes from where he stood, searching among the blue to see if parts of the yellow iris still remained. When he was sure there wasn't, he averted his gaze to Sora's whole face and stared sternly. He opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it and looked away. Sora glared.

He got the hint.

"Fine, gonna play secret like the rest of the family and keep me out of knowing like always?"

Axel remained silent. Sora began to walk past towards the door.

"I thought you were different Axel. Things like that shouldn't get to you." Just as Sora's hand reached for the door, Axel muttered,

"Maybe you should take your own advice."

Sora froze for a moment before he turned his angry gaze attention back to leaving. He quickly opened it and walked out. Upon deciding to slam the door in angry grief to prove his point, he chose instead to close it gently then proceeded to head upstairs of the manor.

Back inside the room, Axel continued to stare at the spot where Sora had been on the floor in front of the tattered carpet seams. He sighed heavily and brought a hand up to his face to squeeze the bridge of his nose as his eyes closed in frustration.

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Sora sat on the manor's highest rooftop located on the east wing. He went up there in troubled times to gaze down upon the city from its height when he wanted to clear his mind of thoughts. As he sat there, he clutched the metal rod of a broadcasting pole atop the roof, his feet almost gave way under the slippery texture of the roof's wet textures. There was a thunderstorm currently going on around him in the late night. As if on cue, a deep roll of thunder rumbled the sky around him. Sora made know movement as a bolt of lightning flew down from the clouds near the home structure. He merely continued to stare ahead in a mild caution with a concentrated gaze on his face.

_They say a man is four times more likely to get struck by lightning than a women…_

Sora frankly didn't give a damn about this theory. At the moment, he felt less of a man than he had ever been. He bent his head down in frustration, feeling the cold rain pour down his bare arms and into his shirt. He hadn't come without his coat. While he was deathly cold himself, the chilling weather around him made him feel soaked frozen.

How could he have lost control like that? Over a human's blood? He'd tasted it many times before, so why the difference now? …Sora thought about what Axel said…the, first-time overdose to feeding on your own... He sighed angrily.

Sora couldn't believe the thoughts and feelings he had been introduced to…sure, he'd thought like that before about drinking a human and killing but.. never so viciously that he'd decide to kill all those around him just to get what he wanted. A primal savage within had awoken that he had not known. How he thought about running into town to go on a drinking rampage…and…how he thought about Axel…and Kairi…..

Sora gritted his teeth and squeezed the metal rod in his hand. How could he think like that? It was so overwhelming! Was he really capable of going through his family, breaking their rules and traditions to get some spill of blood? He couldn't fight it until Axel had subdued him in pain and anguish and yelled the sense back into him….thank god for Axel being there. He was lucky to even be in the same place of his family when the effect had began…But what if the day came when he wouldn't be where family was and he was alone with these emotions?

Sora let go of the rod and threw both hands into his wet hair to clutch his head. The look of disappointment on Axel's face etched in his memory when he had asked that question moments before leaving him in the room.

'_Maybe you should take your own advice.'_

What did he mean by that? He wasn't turning into some blood-lust killer after one feeding was he? …..He remembered the smell that lifted from the man's blood once had broke flesh on his neck… and how good it tasted touching his tongue for the first time like that… it nearly drove him mad. He couldn't stop and only sucked harder until the two puncture marks had both ripped open to gush out a river of blood. Even after the man had stopped moving and laid limp in his hold, he couldn't move until not a drop was left to suck.

Concern and fear grazed over Sora's handsome features. If that sense of lust were the case, then every time he sucked blood off another human was he always going to feel and act that way? Pain and guilt clutched at his heart for while Sora talked and acted like a smart-mouthed, sexy killer who didn't care about the consequences (which was who he could really be at times), he _did _have a moral conscience and was kind and good-natured in truth.

Roxas' young and smiling face flashed in Sora's mind.

Had that been what Axel was trying to say to him? Everyone knew Sora's true character of being an optimistic and at times a soft and sweet young man. Would this whole new opening to a new and darker world change who he really was?

Sora glared at himself and gritted his teeth. Another roll of thunder echoed around the skies and was called by another bolt of lightning directly in front of Sora. Luckily, it was a few metres from the rooftop and flew down to the ground below. Sora shook his head, shaking the excessive water out of his damp hair and moving his wet brown bangs away from his hair to see more clearly in the rain.

"I won't let it get the better of me… blood isn't who I'm made of."

He went back to holding the metal rod and proceeded to standing up. From his higher position, Sora felt the wind violently whirl the cold air and rain around him. He ignored it and squinted his eyes off to the city.

He was going to finish the remainder of the tasks and when he become the strongest _Strigoi_, he could go out and drink whenever he wanted to.

"And when I do drink, I won't get overcome by these emotions and smells…"

Thinking about the smells again, Sora thought it very strange. He had never been able to pick up scents like that all around him at once. They had come rushing into his nose some from within in the manor to as far as he could think would be the outskirts of the far side of the city. In an array of whiffs he picked up the most familiar and odd smells of humans and vampires alike… Riku's cologne was among them and familiar scents of his other family members, along with perfumes, food, cigarettes, flowers, shampoo, and even at the most oddest he remembered smelling urine. Blood of all types had been the most spiked in his senses.

Though it didn't come as a question to him.

As he thought about it, maybe it had been a new ability acquired by the first task or first human hunt on his own. Whatever the case, Sora didn't hate it.

Even as he stood there on the rooftop in all the rain, the new ability of amplifying the strength of his smelling seemed to be working as he could smell whole assortments of incenses and blood wafting around him.

Sora lifted his head a bit to get a stronger whiff. Different smells were inhaled, some strong, some faint, and they all varied from sweet to nauseating. He could even pick up the smell of newspaper ink…

Sora's head suddenly perked up. His eyes widened.

Something had spiked his mind. Lifting his head some more, Sora turned his head, eyes glazed in concentration for the direction of it.

_That smell…it was so……oh god, where was it coming from…_

Sora shifted his head to the right and suddenly froze. He lifted his head up some and breathed in deeply.

_It was rich. Thickly rich with a deep sweet smell he just couldn't get enough of._

Sora stayed frozen in place, only moving to inhale deep breaths of the scent he picked up. As he drew it in slowly, his mind went into a daze and his eyes were beginning to change from blue to yellow again, fixed on a point of the city.

_Whosever blood smelt like this, was seriously driving him mad. There was no way to describe how good it was and how bad he wanted it…_

As Sora thought about the feeling, he remembered what he just told himself. He growled angrily and clutched the metal rod he held onto more tightly. It dented between the strength of his fingers.

Sora jerked away from it quickly, careful not to break it. Ansem would have blown a casket if he broke another thing in the manor. He looked back out to the city. Sora willed himself to get his mind off it but while it still floated the strongest among the sea of smells he inhaled, the deep yearning he had for it seemed to subside.

He glared at the city and knelt down, prepared to jump off the rooftop to the ground below.

"Ugh, I can't think about that scent anymore. It'll get me off work."

Then he jumped to the ground and proceeded to run (inhumanly) back to his apartment where he willed himself not to draw in that particular scent of blood all night.

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A couple blocks down from where Sora sat restlessly in his apartment, a young woman hiccupped a sob in a dark alley. The cold and heavy rain drenched her hair and jacket as she shivered like a frail tree in the windy narrow passageway between the buildings. The bright red and blue lights illuminated the area and off her face in a rotational motion from the police sirens and ambulance.

As she stood there silent and shaking, the few paramedics walked past her carrying a body in a plastic black cover on their gurney. They each gave her a sympathetic look as they walked to the open back of the ambulance and assisted each other in getting it up and in. As she watched them, she hiccupped again.

When they were closed and ready, they drove off, leaving her with the police cars and few investigators. She walked over to the detective of the case and gently grasped the arm of his wet brown, leather trenchcoat. He had been talking to a couple of the other investigators when he felt her touch and stopped talking to turn to her. The other investigators turned and left to another part of the area where the policemen stood.

The young woman looked up to him and spoke first with hiccups lacing her voice from fear and cold.

"A-are they going t-to take him to h-hospital?"

The detective shook his head slowly.

"Won't do any good now. He was already dead when we got here remember? They're sending him straight over to the forensic centre where he'll be properly cleaned and preserved for an autopsy tomorrow morning."

She dropped her hand from his arm and hung her head down, the rain dripping off her hair in many beads.

"Oh…y-yes…"

The detective placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry again, miss. But aren't we lucky to have found him a day after he went missing? It was well of you to call for a search the day you knew of his missing. You two must keep very close schedules with each other. Unfortunately while the rain will wash away the most of what evidence we can get from this crime, it won't destroy all of it."

The young woman looked up at the detective, her eyes wide with hope.

"T-then does that mean we can still find some hope of who did it?"

The detective bit the inside of his mouth and turned away from the woman to walk over to his patrol car.

"Not sure of that, miss. We're scheduled for another search tomorrow morning and another investigation the day after…Don't know if we'll have time to come back to yours soon because all are units are running around the clock for missing people. The best we can do for you at this moment, is only tell you how your father died. "

The young woman gasped lightly and willed herself to stop another sob. The detective continued his speech as he did not hear her and went to open his car to step inside.

"People are winding up missing and found dead almost everyday now. And you won't believe the jest of what most of our dead victims succumb to: bites to the neck… I'm starting to believe that vampires are running around the city…"

The young woman glared at the detective.

"There's no such thing. A-and to honestly joke at a time like this?"

The detective looked up to her face, frozen in place of stepping into his driver's seat. His face went solemnly guilty and serious.

"Sorry, miss. I-in the mean time, return to your normal routine for tomorrow and the next couple days. When the forensic team is done with the autopsy, they'll call you in. There's no need to rush in there."

"Yes…… and thank you."

When he had nodded her goodnight, he closed the door of his patrol car and drove off back to the police station. The other policemen offered her a ride home and all the while, she hiccupped quiet sobs in the back of her car as she was suddenly sinking it in that she was now alone without any loving family members left.

* * *

There you go! A pretty good one that was well to write, it brought out more of Sora's character and how one should see from his perspective. I'm trying to keep the good part of him alive because he's not just a cold, sexy, killing vampire and I wanted to do him justice ..sorta. Alrite, hang tight for the next chapter. And don't forget to drop a review! And yeah, Sora may think he wants Kairi now ..just wait.


	4. Day 3

Thanks to everyone for making _Cold Taste_ a sweet popular read on Fanfiction! I never had so many hits for one story before :) It gives me the motivation to push on forward with each chapter, and as I've said before, even though I take long, I'm glad you're all still sticking around for the new chapters. Well enough chit-chat, here's Chapter four of

_Cold Taste: Day 3_

Quick A/N: Let me just say, if this sounds like a somewhat modification of the popular vampire series _Twilight_, it ain't. I wrote the plot of this story months before I read up on anything related to Stephanie Meyer's work and when I did, I was shocked to find it almost followed the same line of blood lust mine did. So I'm giving full credits to her if anything sounds copyrighted. And also, I apologize again for any grammar/spelling mistakes I made throughout this chapter. I was ticked at how much I easily missed in the last one but I finished writing this chapter four in the morning and after reading it once over, I'm tired to don't hate and appreciate its length :)

As well, I am happy to say that the response from my poll listing is now giving what the voters want. Two out of five choices came out on top and I've applied your voice to this chapter. lol, so I hope you Enjoy! And good luck, it's long.

* * *

The next morning was anything but tense-free for Axel. As he sat on one of the loveseats back in the parlour waiting for Roxas, he removed one of the black gloves he was accustomed to wearing over his hands. The cold air that always hung around and within the manor sent nothing of a chill through his already dead fingers. He sighed heavily and brought the hand up to his face like the evening before and went to squeeze the bridge of his nose again.

So many things went unsaid to Sora, while others he should've kept to himself. He felt both guilty and stupid for letting the young man, _his own cousin_, get so confused and isolated in something that he'd known to want and do all his life.

There was never any pleasing someone properly within this family.

A heavy knock on the parlour's door cut Axel's train of thought and he looked blankly over towards it.

"I'm here."

The door opened and Roxas stepped in, closing it behind him before he proceeded to walk over to Axel. Roxas was wearing the regular trenchcoat over his attire but left it open to reveal a black button-down shirt open at the throat and black dress pants. Axel was wearing his coat closed up as usual. He eyed his younger cousin's clothes and smirked.

"You taking Kairi out tonight?"

Roxas shook his head and put on a small smile.

"We just got back. I've been wanting to show her the bridge over on Arygyn because it had her favourite arrangements of flowers. We were there …and other places, all night."

He went on to grinning.

"Even let her have her second try to an on-your-own male bite…she really knows how to lure them." Axel lifted on eyebrow.

"Weren't you even remotely jealous?"

"Why would I be? She's only got eyes for me…I made sure of that." He flecked his blue irises to yellow and licked his lips. "Well, she's resting now in our room. She drank the poor sucker dry… almost had another overdose before I calmed her."

Roxas chuckled after saying it, but Axel widened his eyes.

He suddenly remembered why Roxas was here in first place. He looked down and away from where the other man was standing.

"Oh… right. See, that's why I called you in here."

Roxas looked at him through concerned eyes.

"Yeah, why'd you call me in the first place? What happened?"

"It's more like… … _who_ happened..." Roxas narrowed his eyes.

"Axel… who.."

Axel hated this. He lifted his head up to stare at his cousin. He always wished to never be the teller of bad news between the brothers but he had the clearest head of anyone in the family.

"Sora… he had his first overdose." Roxas beared his teeth.

"…How bad was it?"

Axel looked away.

"Pretty." Roxas growled and tightened his fists. He looked away to a spot on the carpet where he noticed the tear marks. He looked back to Axel.

"Was it _here_?" Axel nodded.

Roxas looked away and closed his eyes tight with frustration. Axel waited to see how Roxas would react to the news. When it looked like Roxas would blow a worried tantrum about his little brother, he took a deep breath and drawed out a calm sigh. He opened his eyes and looked back to the older man with a small smile on his face.

"Well, at least he's done with the first task."

Axel blinked.

"I-I thought you'd take that more …well..."

Roxas scoffed and turned his body away from the sitting red-head.

"What? Like, shocked?"

Axel nodded his head though Roxas didn't see it. Roxas went on talking.

"I might have been …a while back…but, I've seen his capability.'

'Sora's pretty strong. You know that, Axel. And he's _a lot_ different from the rest of us. Those …_human-like_ morals of his…makes him special… He's got more will-power I bet than any other member in this family…"

Axel got up from the loveseat and stood behind Roxas.

"But Roxas, you didn't see him last night… He went off real bad."

"Did you have to.. subjugate him?"

Axel hesitated on his next words.

"Yeah, took a while though... He couldn't hear me for some time… he even tried to—"

Axel paused. Should he tell Roxas about Sora's wanting to... Axel didn't want to worry his cousin anymore than he needed to be. If anything, Roxas already knew the jest of what probably happened. No vampire's ever been that lustful to go against sparing the lives of their own kin… but Sora was different, but as a future Nosferatu _Strigoi_, Sora could have control over the entire family.

Axel kept his mouth closed and stood in silence with Roxas, whose back was still to him as he pondered over his brother's growing situation.

"I get it."

Roxas sighed after a couple moments. Axel watched him sternly with green eyes, waiting for his reaction once more. Roxas shook his head and looked to be tightening his fists in uncertainty. Though Axel was no mind-reader, he could pretty much guess what was running through the blonde's head: an on-going battle about whether or not to leave Sora be with his actions for some time, or confront him about it now.

Roxas then finally growled low in the back of throat, and threw his fists at his sides. He turned on his heel on began walking towards the door as a sign of leave. Axel slightly confused about his actions, merely watched with a raised eyebrow as the young man headed out the door. Roxas looked like he wouldn't be coming back.

Axel looked away from the door to the spot where Sora had left tear marks in the carpet from the previous night. He was slightly annoyed.

"Well, that went pretty well."

---

--

-

Sora tossed and turned on his old mattress before finally sighing angrily and throwing himself off his weak excuse for a bed.

He'd made it through the night. No more than 15 hours lying around his apartment with that smell lingering in and out his nostrils.

Well… he'd _tried_ to lie still in his apartment. Getting up from the mattress and looking around the room, he counted the number of pillows he had shredded and the number of holes he punched into the walls and floor from the stress and lust pains he felt.

Sora ran both his hands into his hair and growled loudly.

_Never _in his life had he felt the urge to drink like that. The night before with Axel was different... that had been an urge _to slaughter _he discovered after killing the businessman. This was different. Smells never fazed him before, it was usually the taste that got him spiked…

He walked around his room for a couple moments in exhaustion, breathing deeply. Pulling his hands out of his hair, he stared at his fingers.

They were twitching with anxiety… he could still make out that damnable stench floating mildly in the air. It was almost enough to send his mind back into hysterics again. It took him hours to control himself and block out the fantasies he thought of the whole night.

And being a vampire with an absence for slumber, it was pretty fucking hard for him not to think anything else.

Sora sat down on a chair in the living room and went to clipping his claws again, for the third time that morning.

Staying locked up in his apartment was the best way for him not to go out and get distracted. He had already killed once… he didn't want to do that again—

He almost clipped his skin off when he remembered. Sora bit his lip softly and looked away some. His eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh yeah…"

The sound of Roxas' voice echoed in the back of mind, ringing with the sense of authority his older brother always had.

'_You've got 15 days..'_

Sora had already used up two. He was slightly pissed with himself. In his proud, if anything but a little arrogant character, Sora wanted to prove to the family that he could handle the mess of three simple tasks in under 5 days. That was his goal. To be finished faster than any other _Strigoi_ before him and take pleasure in becoming the most powerful alpha dog. Compared to his other family members, he wanted to have less of a reason for taking too long if he did.

As he continued to cut his nails, Sora fumed over some past lectures he remembered having with Axel and Riku.

_..._

_A year back and nineteen at the time, Sora was sat down and told about the major details he would have to endure when his time came up to be __Strigoi._ _He was pretty much a full, mature male adult and a well-respective one at the time (future events would lead him to be his current smart-ass self), listening to both older men as they exchanged meaningful words back and forth before him._

'_So Riku, I know your tasks were different from what mine are going to be but can I ask? How long did it take you to finish them?'_

'_Eh... about 8 days…they gave me 13, but the last task … she gave a lot of trouble.'_

_Sora nodded his head and turned to the red-head._

'_How about you Axel?'_

'_Fourteen…it would've been 6 but..' He sighed deeply. '…she was hard to handle for me…'_

_Sora titled his head curiously. 'How come? You guys are always telling me women are the most easy things in the world.'_

_Axel scoffed and Riku chuckled._

'_We lied.' They both said the line at the same line. Sora put on a small smile. Riku smirked._

'_Easy in bed.' Sora turned to him and raised an eyebrow disapprovingly. _

'_Riku…' Riku flinched._

'_Sorry, forgot you were a softie.' Sora pouted _

'_I am not.' _

'_Psh, yeah you are.'_

_Axel jumped into the short conversation he had somehow got pushed out of._

'_Okay, guys stop.' Sora chuckled and looked over to Axel._

'_So, why DID it take longer than you expected it to be, guys?'_

_Riku looked to both men thoughtfully but didn't say a word. He decided to let Axel drive the explanation. Axel smiled._

'_Sora, when we acquire the best abilities that the world's greatest predator is able to possess, we still leave out the most important factors of being a vampire…'_

_Sora blinked. That was a well-structured sentence. _

'_Oh?'_

'…_Lust.'_

_Sora chuckled. _

'_I already knew that…'_

_Riku raised an eyebrow._

'_Yeah, you know it…'_

_Axel smirked. _

'…_but you don't get it… at least, not yet… especially if love gets in the picture too.' _

_Sora titled his head and put his hand to his chin._

…

When Sora was done, he put the nail clippers in his pocket, got up and went to sliding glass doors and did his morning routine of looking out from the outside balcony. The air was cooler than normal that day and he drew out a deep breath of air. The chill crept through his grey shirt and tickled his cold body, though he couldn't feel the temperature change.

Now he knew what they meant that day by the lust factor. It was unbearably surprising. Sure, he'd had hunger pains when he was thirsty as a kid and throughout his life... but he was entering a new type of territory… one where it was just him alone who could satisfy his primal needs for flesh and blood. And if he didn't get it, he knew what the urge would do to him.

The fear crept back into his heart.

Trying to veer away from the dark topic, Sora inhaled again to get his mind off the thoughts. His mind spiked again.

_That frickin' smell was there again._

It wasn't strong like the night before, but mild and pretty far away from what he could guess. Sora threw his hands onto the balcony's metal bars and tightened them into fists.

It was incredible what it could do to him in only a short amount of time with such a light intensity. [a/n: That's sort of an oxymoron, but you get what I mean. lol]

Sora shook his head vigorously and looked out into the city. The bustles of the early morning rush-hour that he had somehow blocked out as white noise before, came back into his ears. Police sirens and car honks were of the short interval, but they were as normal in this city as everything else.

Sora titled his head and chewed the inside of his mouth, careful not to use his fangs.

Maybe getting out and doing other things would get his mind off everything else. He was as bored as hell all night and with the movement back alive in the downtown streets, he could easily find something to do for the day.

Sora decided upon it. He went to his bedroom and walked over to the open walk-in closet. His hand went instinctively for the black trench coat but he froze before he touched it. He smirked and instead went for his black leather jacket with the silver zippers.

Today wasn't a special occasion, it was just a day outing.

---

--

-

Sora nearly got shoved and pushed over three times in the 2 hours he had spent walking along the streets of the downtown area of the city. At one point, he even had the nerve to jump and bite a teenaged boy who careened him on a skateboard and threw an insult to his face, telling him men don't stand around like that. Sora couldn't help but smirk and chuckle a bit as he remembered the event. Was _he_ like that a couple years back? Sora couldn't remember.

It was about 1:15 in the early afternoon when Sora decided upon taking a different route into the more congested streets of the greater business areas. By that time, everyone, working in the area or not, was occupying every available spot on the streets and parking was filled up to the curb.

It was much more crowded in these parts as people hurried about with their bags, purses, briefcases, suitcases, boxes and children. Some like Sora were walking a moderately even pace while others weaved in and out the heavy crowds trying to get where they wanted to go quickly. As much as the space permitted, the sounds were also loud on the ears too. Horns blared every 5 seconds or so as the car traffic was just as bad as the pedestrian's and talking of all conversations was heard everywhere. Cell phone ringtones and iPod music emitted loudly as Sora progressed on through the street. The occasional police or ambulance siren was heard in the distance.

In short, it was a hell on earth in this little city puddle.

Sora smirked as he flicked his gaze back and forth from each face he saw in the crowded streets. Some looked dazed, others looked worried. Some from far away he could earnestly tell were going to blow at a moment's notice while others in a rush came so close to his face he had to stop in his walk and let them pass. There wasn't much space for walking and whenever he stopped again, so the traffic he led behind him would grunt in annoyance and move around him to walk on faster ahead. As much as he hated coming down here, it did very good for his mind and vampiric instincts.

Too many smells and aromas were floating in the dense air around him and whenever he picked one up that would suddenly arouse him, or the same one that spiked his lust the night before, another nearby smell would cover it up, and then another, and another, until his senses went array and he couldn't pick it up again. The people… the numerous necks he'd throw his gaze to, having that urge to sink his teeth into... they were all over the place and it left his mind with two obstacles: (1) there were _other_ people around to witness and (2) he'd be seeing multiple victims at a time that he'd want, and they'd disappear deeper in the crowd and he'd find himself looking to new ones. It left him seriously messed.

Axel told him never to do something like this. Most vampires caught in a situation like this with their instincts on high, could either go into a hysterical killing rampage or drop dead from the mountable sensations they experienced all at once.

Sora wasn't afraid though. He'd been walking around like this for a couple hours already and nothing happened. He even bought himself a coffee as a pat-on-the-back for keeping his urges down and distracting his mind from the smell of that blood.

He knew his self-control; he could handle being surrounded by frantic humans in an everyday situation. While it did nothing but spike his instincts a little, he had gone on walks alone before like this so he didn't underestimate himself…

That's just what he hoped, at least.

Sora continued walking in deep thought with his coffee in his hand, his other in the pocket of his jacket. It was left open with the crown chain swinging lazily back and forth as he subconsciously walked through the crowd, avoiding rushing passer Byers...

His mind stopped thinking for the next couple seconds as he had to recover and recuperate from what just happened. One minute he was walking steadily, thinking deeply with his coffee cup in his hand; next, his body was facing to his left and all the people behind him were suddenly piling and bumping into his shoulder. His coffee had fallen to the ground and he stared wide-eyed in front of him for moment.

"Hey!...Ugh, damn kids…" he heard the older gentlemen behind him say, who then went around him and went on his way. The other people who followed behind him did the same, as the did the people who were going in the opposite direction of Sora before him. In their movement, they left him enough room to stand perfectly still in the moving crowd without being knocked over, as well as some room in front of him.

The young woman he had just knocked full collision into did not expect the impact she got herself and was tripped over her own two feet. With everyone moving ahead in front of her, they moved to the motion of her fall and she found nothing to hold, grab or lean onto in the descent. Hitting the concrete below her, her purse flew out of her arms but no so much to get lost in the crowd. As she clutched it tightly, she let go of the hot chocolate cup in her right hand. It spilled beside her, as did whoever's coffee cup she knocked into.

She frantically tried to get up, fearing for her body getting trampled over in the bustling streets. She tried reaching for her fallen hot chocolate which she knew had no use for, but hated littering the streets with.

"H-hey, are you okay!?"

She stopped in mid-action and turned quickly to where the voice originated. That's right. She just ran into someone. The coffee cup from what she could see was already being pulled away from her gaze as the on-goers' feet kicked it in their pace. She better apologize quickly about the mess and get out of the person's way so they can move on in the crowd. She looked up and opened her mouth to shoot a frantic '_Sorry!'_

She didn't get there, as her brain shut down for a few moments.

Looking up from her position, she met two blue eyes that suddenly pricked a fire in the pit of her stomach. As she circled his face with her eyes, she took in his features… brown spiky hair, straight nose, tall… lean, muscular (well, from what she could tell from his open jacket and thin-ripped shirt…)

…and back to his eyes, oh his eyes... _so blue and full of what looked like…concern…—!_

"Oh shit!" she quickly muttered. Yeah, that's why he was still standing there in the first place.

The young women quickly got up from the ground and dusted off her burgundy corduroy pants. She looked up to his face again and blinked several times.

He really _was_ tall, at least a head taller. As she worked through her quiet stammering to apologize, she couldn't help but get lost in his face, preferably his eyes again.

Somehow the intensity she had seen before in them, had gotten stronger… and he had a certain air around him of seriousness. As much as this aroused her, being a young woman who generally gets turned on by a man's tense stare, she was also slightly shocked by it and thought it was because he was still waiting for her apology. She momentarily forgot they were in the midst of a fast-moving crowd.

_His eyes were just so… blue…_

"I-I-I'm sorry!"

With that, she quickly turned on her heel and walked hurriedly through the crowd to get to her destination, leaving Sora paralyzed with confusion.

And boy was he ever.

As he let his gaze follow her body until she was virtually unrecognizable in the crowd, his mind went over the three things he pretty much knew:

First, he knew he would never get to finish his coffee.

Second, he knew how _hot_ that woman was.

And third…

…without a doubt, the minute she bumped into him, that same smell of blood spiked his brain again, if anything ten times stronger than the night before.

Sora stood there for a few more moments, his lips trembling and his eyes twitching. When he finally decided to leave and continue on his way with the moving crowd, there was a small puddle of blood he left dripping from his tightened fists.

---

--

-

Naminé stepped back away from the table where all bits of tape, ribbon and broken flowers lied cluttered on its tabletop. In the middle, five clear, pristine vases sat gorgeous with their respective flower arrangements inside. Moira's wedding was going to be all the more beautiful once she picked which bouquet she liked the most out of Naminé's designs.

The young woman picked up the folded papers on another desk and began writing estimates for prices and flower detail of her work. When she was finished, she put them down and stretched her back, groaning loudly. Feeling the wave of completion wash over her, she scratched the back of her neck and began pulling out the hair tie atop her head, letting her light blonde hair fall in its neat place on her back. As she walked to the front of the store, she shook her head, giving her hair more volume and letting the bunch of it set over her right shoulder, the way she liked it to.

Untying the apron from around her waist, she yelled to her boss she was done for the night and was heading home. The manager, a sweet middle-aged woman thankfully allowed her wishes of heading home early for the night, and Naminé was out the store from the back door in no more than 5 minutes.

The nineteen-year-old humbly thought over her work's progress for the day and found herself pleased with the results. A flower order that was supposed to be finished tomorrow, she had finished early tonight and with her ten-percent increase in sales this month, she was looking forward to another raise by the end of next week. She hoped she would get it, she really needed the extra cash for her apartment rent.

University was getting expensive and she never had time for herself to enjoy with work on the brain. Not that she didn't like work… her job as a florist's assistant made life seem all the more colourful and easy to cope with.

Naminé smiled. Yeah, life was looking out for her…

…especially when she knocked into that hot piece of man earlier that day as she was rushing from her break lunch back for work.

She slightly frowned. But that was in the more crowded spots of the city. Chances were she'd never see him again. Though she found it odd that she hadn't before.

Thinking about it, Naminé wondered that he looked about her age. Wouldn't he have gone to University or College? She would've seen him around the campus then… there _was_ only one major university and college in the city, and she went back and forth from them on a daily basis… maybe it was always bad timing or… he didn't go…

Naminé shook her head. This man… she only saw him _once_, and she's already fantasizing about him like they'd meet again.

"Ha, fat chance."

She decided to take her mind back to the big picture of getting home. Walking along the less populated streets of the city, back to her apartment, Naminé appreciated how the congestion of the crowds died down so quickly in the early evening. It gave her time to think and not worry about getting run over.

After taking the subway and a transit bus for a good 45 minutes (she was usually accustomed to picking up a taxi straight from the store for safer reasons, but decided against it that day to save bills), she was on the route to walking to her building.

The area in which she lived was pretty _dark_, to say for a simpler term. There were criminals crawling and creeping around the streets when no one was around.

Strangely enough for tonight, there seemed to be no one else on the streets leading to her building complex. There were usually about five people she could spot on the way, to make her feel more safe about walking alone… this particular evening... ...no one.

Naminé squeezed her arms tighter to her sides. She made sure to shorten the strap of her purse all the way so it didn't swing loosely beneath her. Using her other hand, she zipped up her tight jean jacket all the way until it nearly caught her lips.

The air was as cold, if anything colder, as it was early that morning.

She didn't like the feeling. Now that there wasn't anyone around along the streets with her, she knew that whatever criminals were lurking around tonight… she'd be watching her.

She breathed deeply kept her gaze strong, her posture straight and walked quickly with the softest steps she could make – whoever was going to follow her, she would hear.

Naminé shook her blonde bangs out of her face as she walked on, trying to occupy her minds on different things beside the fear and paranoia that were building up inside her.

Thoughts drifting to her course assignments and what to expect at work tomorrow floated through her mind. Though they did help to a short extent, it didn't really help her current condition. Then Naminé decided to drift her thoughts to the man…—!

Her muffled screams were covered by someone's hand. As they pulled her into a nearby open alleyway, Naminé jerked in all directions trying to grab the assaulter's arm. Much smarter than that, whoever had their grip on her, swung the weight of her body up to the left. Naminé was immediately lifted off her feet, unable to catch hold their arm.

She screamed behind the hand again.

"Hush up, bitch!"

Naminé tried to bite his hand, but the captor held it so tight, she couldn't push her mouth open at its smallest to bare her teeth at. She resorted flinging her legs around.

The man flinged her body again in the air, bringing her down hard with all the strength he could until she hit the concrete on her tailbone. The impact emitted another scream from her as her muscles had a spasm. Her bones shuttered and her breath racked in the back of her throat. She felt her head swim in a daze and her body shake with fear.

She went to those self-defense classes for a reason… how come she couldn't remember how to do anything now?!

As Naminé struggled on the ground again, trying hard to breathe quickly through her nostrils, the man brought out a cloth from his jacket pocket with his free hand and began bringing it close to her face.

She knew what he would intend to do with that.

Suddenly on instinct, Naminé found strength in her right leg and brought it back as far as she could. Though her tailbone and the small of her back winced in opposition, she stretched her lower body back and kicked him accurately in the face.

Obviously not seeing it coming, the assaulter withdrew from her and threw both hands back up to clutch his face in pain. Naminé took the opportunity to roll away from him and painfully got up from her position. She was about to sprint away when she stopped.

"Shit, my purse!"

Seeing it lying a few ways from the man, she turned to get it. If she didn't, how else would she get back into her apartment? And if she left it there, the man would obviously find out things about her, she didn't want him to know… that would've been a great added bonus.

She was almost to it, when the wind was knocked out of her and her back pressed painfully to the brick wall. The impact rocked another muscle spasm in her and her backbone suddenly shot in white-pain and the heat climbed up from her tailbone.

How did he recover so fast and find the strength to do that?!

Getting a good look of him in the face, Naminé's face went pale and she lost all body movement. Just the night before, she had watched on the eleven-'o'-clock news that a terrible rapist responsible for 5 deaths had gone A-wall at the detention centre on the other side of the city.

And here she was, staring him directly in the face.

If she wasn't so paralyzed with fear, she would've screamed bloody murder. The look in his eyes, dared her to do.

"Give me one reason…_one_, why I shouldn't just kill you now and enjoy fucking you as a _dead_ woman." He began to unzip her coat before throwing it aside.

Naminé's eyes widened and she shook with fear, frozen. He smirked.

"I'll tell you why…" He began tearing away her undershirts to leave her shivering in the cold night air with her exposed bra. "Because it'll be more fun to hear you scream."

Naminé screamed and suddenly found the strength to move again. She did everything in her power to shove, push and kick him away… but he had somehow found the strength to keep her in place without being fazed. As he fondled with the strap going around her back with his fingers, angrily trying to rip it apart, he moved his mouth closer to hers.

Naminé prepared to scream again.

"H-hey! W-what the hell?! W-What the fuck is this?!"

And just like that, the pressure of him was lifted away from her and she couldn't feel him touching her. Losing all will to stand, she slid to the floor and stared wide-eyed ahead. His body was being pulled to the other side of the alleyway, where the darker shadows cast. Naminé could see the outline of his body, pulled and jerked in several motions as he tried to free himself. From the looks of it, whoever had a hold on him was undoubtedly stronger.

Naminé continued to watch as the criminal was pulled. Her mind ran millions of questions at once. Was she saved? What would happen to the criminal? Who saved her? Would she have the strength to make it home without another encounter like this? The criminal's cry of pain wretched through her brain.

She was cut from her terrified train of thought as she watched the silhouette of his body bend back slightly. She was slightly confused by the action, as she didn't see where the other person's body had disappeared to.

Her eyes widened. Her saviour's outline came back into view from behind the criminal's bent position. And as quickly as his/her body came into view…

..so did the sickening crack of what sounded like thick bone snapping.

Naminé sat frozen on the cold concrete as her heart felt like it would jump out of her throat. The sound was _horrible_, inhuman, something she hoped to never hear for the rest of her life… something she now never wished to have heard.

The criminal's body slumped back all the way and fell with a heavy thud on the ground. Silence followed afterwards.

Years of horror-movies and gut-wrenching thrillers led to automatically know that was the sound of a head being snapped.

Naminé sat there for a few moments more in despair, her mind slowing to the point of what action to take next...

She had stopped breathing, so maybe _that_ was the next step to take. Naminé gasped in a deep breath of air. How much she was relieved to know that the terror that man invoked on her was over. She began to get up slowly from her sitting position.

The pain rose from the small of her back up her spine again and she clenched her teeth in pain. Throwing a hand to the brick wall behind her, she lifted herself slowly from the ground and breathed a deep, even pace. Seeing she was getting up, her saviour standing over the criminal's body began to walk slowly towards her. His/her face was still covered by the darkness of the alley.

Naminé's breath hitched. She forgot that other person was still there. She bit her lip. What if they only intended to kill the criminal just so he wouldn't get their place in line?

Keeping her eyes, still transfixed and wide-eyed to the outline of the body, Naminé readied herself for whatever action she was about to take.

When they came into view, she blinked. Her heart beat wildly.

"..It's _you._"

Sora's façade, broke from the dark shadows of the opposite alleyway as he looked her in the face. His eyes stared her down hungrily.

He knew he shouldn't have thought of her like that so quickly, his mind should've been focused on the bigger picture that had just occurred with… this woman…

... no _that_ woman… … that _very same_ woman he'd bumped into the crowds earlier… here she was moments ago, about to get raped, and he'd been lucky to be jumping on roofs nearby to hear her screams… not to mention her spiked blood…

_Her blood…_

Sora's mind spiked again. _There it was, that same smell…so near, and his to take at any moment…_

As Sora looked her over, he mind went up on Cloud Nine again, his instincts were on the verge of lunging at her.

Her blood…no denying it, was the exact same smell he tried to ignore the night before… even now as he let his eyes wander over her exposed body, he felt it intensify and it put his thoughts …and body, into a state of pleasure and animal instincts.

The way she pulled herself slowly up the brick wall, with her breasts practically open for him to see, sent his mind over the edge. Her curved body in those tight-fitting hip pants made him want to jump on her and see what she was hiding under there. And her eyes…

…the look in her eyes… was the reason why he was walking over to her in the first place.

Normally, he would've killed and left without being seen. That's what vampires do, they kill and set no time for questions… well, that's how _his_ family worked.

But her… he wanted to go near her…he knew she wanted that too…

Naminé couldn't believe what her eyes were showing her. There, walking towards her, was the same man she'd almost fainted over before when they bumped into each other in the crowded street. He may have looked hot then in broad daylight, but now…

…Naminé couldn't even say. All she knew what that right now, she was getting more turned on than she ever felt earlier or before in her entire life.

Was there something about saving a girl and killing a man that aroused a girl?

The way he carried himself in the darkness, with his skin bathed in moonlight and the intense gaze he was giving her, was almost enough for her to pull off the rest of her ripped clothing and jump him right there… but she wouldn't.

Naminé was more dignified than that… at least, she hoped.

Sora had finally reached her figure. Giving them a foot of space between them (which they both would've liked to close), Sora leaned forward until his face was almost directly parallel to hers. He looked into her crystal blue eyes and found them burning with raw intensity.

He had to will himself not to react as he smelled her blood spike with arousal from their closeness.

"Are you alright?"

Naminé only stared. His eyes were just so alluring that almost didn't hear him. She brought the hand that lifted her up the wall, all the way above her head and rested it there. She tried to speak but her "I'm alright" only came out as a battered breath.

Sora put one hand in his jean pocket and pressed the other above the woman's head on the brick wall behind her, almost touching the one that sat there. He tilted his head slightly, smirking.

Naminé blushed.

As the two continued to stare at one another, a light drizzle of rain started to fall over them. Naminé completely forgot that the weather report called for some light rain that night.

Well, she'd hoped that she'd be already indoors by the time it started.

Not that she was complaining. In exchange for it, she was locking eyes with a hot man who had just saved her life… in the rain, in a lonely alleyway, with nothing but her jacket on…—

Naminé looked down quickly and blushed a deeper shade of red.

You _never_ expose yourself to a guy on the first meeting. He'd think you're a tramp!

When she quickly looked back up, the man was grinning shyly. He went to the ground where her jean jacket had been laying and handed it to her. In the moment, their hands touched, Naminé got a shiver at wondering how cold his hands were but let it rest that they were that way because it was already night time, it had started raining and he wasn't wearing a jacket but his ripped, grey shirt.

Looking back up to him after she had put it on, she smiled shyly but gratefully. The raindrops were getting her eyes from her wet bangs. She saw he had the same problem.

Sora kept on smiling. He had never met a girl so cute. He used his finger to trail down her neck to her throat for a while, letting the sensation of her skin linger in his feel before he pulled away. Giving her one final glance and a whiff of her blood (spiking his mind), he treaded over to the criminal's body and kneeled down, preparing to pick it up.

Naminé watched the whole ordeal in amazement. First by how gentle he was to her back a couple seconds ago, and then by how strong she could see he was, as he lifted the dead body over his shoulder with one hand. Naminé blinked as he watched him climb the wall with one hand and run over the ledge to the east direction. When he was gone, she quickly headed out the alleyway and scurried to her building complex, where all night she'd keep thinking…

_Damn, he was hot …_

---

--

-

Sora laid the criminal's dead body in a black garbage bag upon the stairs of St. Genevieve of Heart's Cathedral. After writing a note to the police and setting it along with the body for the night, he stood for a while and let his mind wander.

Hopefully by tomorrow evening, the police would find it, it'd be on the news and his family could go back to killing again. They were refrained from doing so until he finished the second task so they would know he did the second task – feeding was only acceptable.

As much as he was glad for finishing the second task however, he just couldn't get his mind on the topic for very long. It all went back to the blonde-haired beauty trapped in the alleyway.

_And the way her blood smelled when he got near her…_

Sora smirked. As a man, he was damn proud he could get her that excited just by looking at her… as a vampire, he was also aroused by the smells and sensations he could smell and feel off her.

_Damn, she was hot…_ and it didn't help him either by how good she smelt getting turned on, or how her blood smelled to him.

He had willed every part of his being to the point of having a coma, not to rip her clothes off and drink her right there on the alley floor. He bit his lip.

As much as Sora wanted her, he couldn't take her like that…

Why?...

Why did he have a sudden urge like that? Over one, human's blood? He'd never got that addicted to one smell like that before… and certainly never a human's? Was it because she was alive and all his other feedings before were already dead? ..No, that didn't make sense… the businessman was alive when he drank his blood and he didn't feel that way… so, maybe…

…maybe... it was just her….

Sora ran a hand through his hair, detangling the knotted spikes. He decided to forget the whole situation for the night and head back to his apartment to lie in agony until morning arose again.

Whatever he was going through, it didn't make much sense to him and he felt his mind sink deeper into confusion and with more yearning…

…oh, how his senses drove him to run after her and take her…

…

* * *

There you have it! Naminé's first appearance. I know how much you guys wanted to see her come in, so I let you have some justice. She wasn't supposed to arrive until the next chapter but I felt this chapter needed more depth. For questions that have gone unresolved, I taken the liberty of answering:

1. to anyone who cares_, Strigoi _is an actual term that I did not just make up. It was the Romanian term for "vampire" back in the 15th century.  
2. decapitation and subjugation were common forms of punishments suspected of vampires in Europe during the times of Dark Ages and Medieval Renaissance.. It was so believed by everyone, especially noblemen and kings, that they decided to use it as their own form of punishment too, whether or not they not the accused were vampires.. and if you think that's bad, wait until you see else I put as forms of punishments in the later chapters when they do something wrong.  
3. Noferatu, if anyone remembers from the earlier part of this chapter, relates to the most powerful_ Blood Emperors_ though I can't remember exactly where..

I can't think of anything else to answer. If you have some questions, feel free to let me know. If I don't answer them right away, that means I'm saving them to be solved later on in the story. Everything good? Alright :) I'ma leave you hanging on a cliff now so hang tight! Chapter 5 will be on it's way!

Oh, and musical inspiration for this chapter goes to the soundtracks of Carter Burwell: "How I Would DIe" and "In Place of Someone You Love." I'm making a soundtrack to go with this song, so that the end, feel free to listen :) You'll get where I was coming from with the mood if you listen to them. Thanks, and don't forget to drop and review!


	5. Day 4

Holy smokes, it's been a while :O A thousand apologies for my freaking laziness and inability to keep real promises. There really is no excuse for this slow update, because we all go through it. But, I hope this 25-page long chapter that cut out six hours of my sleep cycle last night will do me justice. Haha, so here you go, chapter 5 of:

_Cold Taste: Day 4_

Quick A/N: Thanks to all my readers, whether you review or not, for the support :D I'm not really sure what to say except, good luck sitting still. And have fun reading! Oh, I've also proofread it like twice already, so I apologize if there's still obvious grammatical errors I didn't see :P

* * *

_..._

_Blue eyes…_

_A carnation…_

_One hug…_

_Smiles…_

_Blue eyes…_

_Police sirens…_

_The smell of leather…_

_Rain…_

_**B**__lue eyes…_

_Heavy breathing…_

_Shadows…_

_**B**__lue eyes…_

_That rapist…_

_**B**__lue eyes…_

_Screaming…_

_**B**__lue eyes…_

…_his__ blue eyes…_

…

Though she was wearing a thin, light purple, spaghetti-strap tank top and soft, whit-cotton pyjama shorts, Naminé never felt so hot in her life. Her neck and chest, misted over in a thin layer sweat were wrapped in the sheets of her bedspread tightly. Her legs, one bent under a forgotten pillow at the edge and the other, stretched out alone seeking warmth, were rubbing the soft material of the fabric as she tried to find comfort in her wakeful sleep.

But with the increasing heat of her body and the vivid images of the past days' events racking her brain, she realized after a couple moments that she broke her distraught sleep cycle and to no avail, was just lively dreaming.

With her eyes still closed, Naminé mechanically tried lifting her body up from the bed when a sharp pain erupted from her lower back and climbed up her spine. She immediately dropped back into her lying position and gritted her teeth softly.

_Why do I…?_

_Oh… right._

After remembering, she squeezed her eyes tightly and groaned softly, trying to numb the dazed sensation that swirled within her mind. Bringing a hand to her temple, she rubbed it softly. Slumber wasn't going to claim her anytime soon, not with the slight throbbing she was beginning to experience. So she took the chance to lift her eyelids and blink out the sleep.

Naminé was momentarily confused with her surroundings and tried to shift her weight onto one side to get a better view of the room around her. The back pain crept itself up her body again but she ignored it. Familiarizing herself with the warm décor of her modern, chic-white room and peach highlights, Naminé relaxed her body and tried to sort out what bothered her the most.

The whole night she spent sleeping in the maze of her slumber. Images, broken pieces of memories she had lived the past couple of days, swam through her mind and while some she couldn't avidly place at first, she remembered over the short interval of time.

The rain, the flowers, the sirens, the screaming…

And while the vivid blue eyes did much to comfort her, they weren't enough to stop the tear trail that began to trickle down her cheek.

Reaching up a hand to streak it away, Naminé made a light sigh and adjusted her eye level to her window just to the left of her. The sunlight peeked its way through her lavender curtains and the open breeze hidden beneath gently swayed cool air into her quarters. Taking another breath, she filled her lungs with the cold oxygen and shivered noticeably. The motion jolted her body and caused a better alertness within her. It was time to get up.

Naminé pushed her legs in the direction her body was facing and let them slide over the edge first. Releasing the leg that was beneath her pillow, she realized curiously how warm it had once been. Letting her feet touch the floor, Naminé decided to rest in the precarious position for a moment. She swung a droopy arm over the edge as well and lazily dangled over the bed, thinking about nothing in particular. When she was finally bored and decided to push the rest of her body up over the edge. She groaned again and staggered up to a slightly hunched posture, stifling a yawn in the process.

Slowly stretching to her full height (in an attempt to ease her aching lower-back), Naminé frowned slightly and made her way to the filtering curtains. Once she got to them, she gently pushed the fabric away and let the sunlight's rays hit her full force. They lit up the room and brought warmth to the atmosphere. Naminé took no real notice like she did on regular mornings.

Turning away for a brief moment, her eyes flitted over to her closet across the room to stare where different articles of clothing were all strewn around until they stopped on a light, blue blouse and white tank top. Their ripped up fronts reminded her that she had yet to discard them.

After that point, the only things that came to her mind were the experiences of the night before… the sudden grab, the attempted rape, and the man who became her hero.

_With eyes so blue…_

She had much on her mind.

Heaving a heavy sigh her bent her head down to stare at the windowsill beneath her fingers where her hands lay. Her golden tresses fell over her shoulders and glowed in the morning light.

"Day 4 already?"

Frowning deeper to her first comment of the morning, she turned away from the sun and looked to a blind spot on her carpet floor as her right hand dropped from the sill and hung beside her.

Four days… would she count like this forever?

Was this the beginning of a forever-count as she nicked off the days when she last said goodbye to her dad? From the subway platform where she bid farewell to him after a weekend sleepover at his condo to head to work, Naminé felt like it only happened yesterday when she'd gotten the phone call to come down to that alley by police escorts.

With a battered breath she turned her head back to the window to stare out into the mid-morning horizon. It helped give her the warm security she momentarily lost. Subconsciously, she brought her right hand to the base of her spinal cord and softly fisted the tender area – the pain was still eminent, if anything more excruciating. Gently gritting her teeth, she looked up to the ceiling.

She mentally went over what the sensation was doing to her. But all it did was turn her mind in a new direction and she ended up thinking about the resulting sensation of what that man who saved her in the alley did to her.

Causing her body to heat up quickly, she quickly dropped her head from the ceiling and lifted the hand still placed on the windowsill to her forehead.

Maybe it was better to skip work today. After all, she did have a tough (and to put in a simpler term, life-threatening) night and her boss was always sweet to her whenever it called for a favour.

Really considering it, she fumed over the possible things to do today and decided there was still time to call in sick for the day, so she headed for the phone in her living room.

As she moved around the bed toward the small hallway, she took a quick glance in the passing mirror and noted that first thing to fix was her dishevelled hair. On the short trip to her destination, Naminé made a mental note to check the messages on her phone after calling. She normally kept the ringer on all day, but with amount of stress that was building this week, she decided she needed the well-earned sleep and chose to turn the switch to 'off'. Whoever needed to desperately call her in the middle of the night would get her in the morning. She wasn't in the particular right of moods to miss out on sleeping.

Once she reached the machine, she was visibly curious. The red light indicating the amount messages by flash speed blinked only a steady 10-second pulse. Normally, her friends whether or not she spoke to them in a day would have dropped her at least 4 messages a day (by 3-second red light flash standards). To discover only one message, she started to feel anxious all of a sudden.

Upon deciding to listen to it first before calling her workplace, Naminé picked up the receiver and pressed the red light. It immediately stopped flashing and the dial tone disappeared. She waited for the familiar speech.

"_You have 1 new message."_ It followed by the anticipating beep.

Naminé held her breath.

"_This message is for Lark Naminé Veile. Hello Miss Veile, my name is Doctor Sarnia Akura Talon. I am a working member in the Forensics department of the Aceling Laboratories, so you can only imagine the reason for my calling. We have the final analysis of Mr. Veile's autopsy ready for your viewing, so if and when you're ready, please arrive at the department by 8:00 tomorrow night. The address is 2501 Bridlewood Gate, just past the east intersection of Knoxfort in the Arygyn area… "_

Naminé didn't need to write down the directions. She'd already past that route many times not to forget it.

"… _Once you arrive, just tell the front desk receptionist your scheduling and she'll direct you to the correct wing. I hope to see you tomorrow. Many regards."_ The line went dead afterwards followed by the resounding beep again. As Naminé put down the receiver she could faintly hear the _"You have no more messages,"_ but like that really mattered.

Naminé with her face transfixed on the phone, began to tumble into a world of deep thought again. The after-effects of the message left her suddenly depressed.

As much as she wanted to find relief and subtle joy in discovering that the anxiety she lived with for the past couple days about her father's death would soon be over, she couldn't help but feel a little distraught.

Would she really want to stay home now after hearing about the completed autopsy? All the wonders and contemplations about her father, not to mention his untimely murder, would only grow a deep grief within her that she did not want to wallow in all day.

The consideration was tolerable but she didn't want to have it.

It was hard, but it was not strong enough to conquer the rest of her emotions.

Naminé bit the inside of her cheek.

"Like dad always said, '_The mind is strong, but the heart is stronger._'"

In a huff, Naminé blew air up to her bangs and fly out of her vision. She scrunched her face then walked back to her room.

"Moira will want to meet the arranger of the designs, so I might as well go. She'll probably make some extra suggestions… or make me do it all over again."

As she headed to the bedroom, Naminé subconsciously rubbed her tailbone again.

"Ugh, I hate when they do that…. It's never good enough with engaged women when it comes to their weddings." She continued to grumble to herself as she proceeded to doing her morning routines before work.

---

--

-

"Oh my, they're all so beautiful. Well, I'm going to have a tough time making a choice."

Naminé lifted her head in the direction of the exclamation before smiling and turning back to finish washing her hands in the sink. She had just finished re-potting a cluster of African violets into a larger, more decorative pot due to their increase in size (the new fertilizer they had bought a couple weeks back was doing wonders for the plants). After shutting off the tap, she ripped a paper towel from a nearby roll and started drying her hands, wiping her pants in the process.

After having a shower in the earlier morning, she'd decided on a simple pair of dark blue hip-huggers and a short-sleeve button down shirt with sewn-in white floral designs. Her hair was in its regular ponytail for work. The comfy, casual attire did much more to lighten the mood she had possessed before arriving to the store.

It was bad work ethic to come in with a viral spread of misery, one that would surely affect her behaviour, her actions, and ultimately her close chance to a raise. So leaving all the problems at home, she would leave the apartment in content optimism and with a smile on her face, and come into work the same way. The boss didn't need to know what was going on currently in her life, she was already too busy with her own dilemmas – one which quickly called Naminé's attention from the back of the store.

"Naminé! Can you come out here for a bit?"

"Sure!" Wiping the remaining water between her fingers, Naminé tossed the sheet into the bin on her way out the door as she pushed it open. She mentally braced herself for the criteria and comments that would bombard her shortly.

With a smile, she walked right up to her florist's side and stood obediently tall. Well, she was technically the shortest person the store at the moment but she stretched herself up to her full height – her lower back winced in pain but she had to ignore it. Her boss turned to her.

"Yes, and here she is. Despite her only being a sophomore in Agar University, she's already my floral assistant. And I must say I have high expectations of people and their work and she is fits that bill in every aspect when it comes to flowers."

Naminé mentally scoffed and sarcastically thanked her boss for putting her _and_ her personal life on the spot. Shaking off the nervousness, she extended a hand to the woman across to her.

"Nice to finally meet you Moira." Said woman, in her late twenties, gently grasped Naminé's outstretched palm and gave it two solid shakes. She was fairly pretty and wore non-rimmed glasses. Moira smiled. She had a mature, intelligent air about her.

"Well, we've already talked before on the phone so I can earnestly agree with your manager that you are a sweet girl." Seeing Naminé's quick back up into shyness, she laughed softly.

"Sorry, didn't mean to put you on the spot there. It's nice to finally meet you too."

With the introductions out of the way, Naminé's boss jumped back into the conversation.

"So Naminé, we've already started discussing the floral arrangements for the wedding and Moira is really impressed by your designs." Moira jumped in immediately.

"Oh yes, I find them gorgeous to the tip. They are all so impressive. I'm also glad that you were able to finish them early. By your boss calling me up last night, I was able to clear up more room on my schedule for later today." Moira started to walk towards the table where all the vases sat. Naminé's boss took the opportunity to turn her and nod approvingly. Naminé smiled.

"You're welcome."

Moira leaned her head down more toward the vases, inclined to the flower heads with a finger under her chin and a small smile on her face.

"I truly love all of them. The choice of flowers you chose to set the atmosphere for the runway and canopies, I can really envision in my dream…" With a light giggle she reached with the finger under her chin to rub the petals of one the violet lilacs.

"I'm a sucker for purple and I'm grateful you incorporated it in every vase. As well as Kane's favourite colour as well. You were listening…" As she continued to analyse each arrangement, Naminé decided to stand beside her at the table to see what she was detailing – Naminé knew every technique she used, but she stood there for observation.

"I'm drawn to the one at the end here on the left… the lilies would give the wedding that soft, elegant tone that I like going for.. hm, but that may be too classic and they are a bit large although I like how you threw the red perennials in there to mix with the purple pansies.. that's very spring-like. And the pink tiger-lilies in this one here in the middle are so cute and they would bring so much more livelihood the way they look with the….. but this one…Ooh, this one…"

Naminé took this opportunity to jump into the moment. She walked quickly over to Moira's other side to get a better view of the vase she was staring intensively at.

"Actually, this one is my favourite. I mean, I loved working on the other ones and I gave them each the same amount of effort but I don't know, I'm sort of …drawn to its patterns, you know?" She smiled hoping Moira had the same idea. Moira stared intently at it for some time with a wide smile on her face.

"Oh yes, I see what you mean. And awh, it has everything. My favourite colour, Kane's, his grandmother's favourite flower, my _mom's_ favourite… it even looks like the arrangement itself can really harmonize with everything that's been set." Naminé grinned and like an infection, Moira was doing the same.

Standing back up to her full height, she happily announced Naminé's favourite as her choice for the wedding. Naminé clapped (before realizing that seemed childish then quickly placed her hands into the pockets of her apron). Her boss was ecstatic.

"That's wonderful."

Moira smiled whole-heartedly.

"And here I thought I might need a lot of time thinking about this. But you Naminé, really got it working out for you. I'm really glad you were the one to arrange it. You got everything I couldn't have possibly imagined on my own."

"No problem." Naminé with her hands still in her pockets withdrew a small notebook and a pen and turned around, leaning on the other table.

"Let me just write up the flower details for you." She began scribbling down everything she knew and used about the particular design of the chosen arrangement. As she was writing, Moira came up to lean on the table beside her.

"So you must be real busy considering the amount of workload universities are given these days. Actually all schools do, now that I think about it."

Naminé talked as she was writing.

"Yeah, it gets tough. But I'm lucky to have a three-month vacation right now. It's only my second week into it so I'm glad I don't have to worry about the pressure for a while."

Moira nodded and smiled.

"That's great. So is there anything else you need to know?"

Naminé momentarily stopped writing to look up, her lips pursed in thought and eyes wide in thought. She smiled cheekily.

"Well…" but just like that, she decided against asking then shook her head smiling.

"Never mind." Moira and her boss looked at her curiously. Moira pushed her to say it.

"No no, go on. Anything you want. I won't be judgemental." Moira smiled again.

Naminé thought about it for a couple of seconds of whether to risk or not. Finally deciding that Moira was a nice woman and wouldn't bite her head off if she asked it, she went on and said what she wanted to say.

"Well, I was wondering. Between girls you know…" She giggled. Moira smirked – she knew where this topic might be heading.

"… what do you love most about your man-to-be?" Naminé suppressed another giggle as Moira laughed softly then sighed.

"There's a lot of things on that list that I love about Kane… his smarts, his sense of humour… But, if were to say anything about him that I love.. it'd be his eyes.... those blue, blue eyes of his…" With a dreamy expression, Moira started to pull away from reality as she drifted into a fantasy about her future husband.

Naminé was suddenly pulled out too.

_Blue eyes…_

_Blue, blue eyes of his…_

She smiled in bliss as a soft blush crept over her cheeks, her eyes twinkling. And just like that, the dreamy haze popped and she heard Moira laughing. Moira then turned to look at her.

"Well, either that or the way we fight for the TV remote…"

Naminé laughed too and soon her boss was joining in, and the three of them were caught in a moment of whimsical delight.

---

--

-

Sora smiled serenely down at Naminé from where he sat at the edge of the shingle-tiled rooftop of the building next to the floral shop.

He was low enough to see and hear all the three women laughing in the window, but high enough for them not to see him. Though he'd been there a while and his muscles began to ache from the crouched position he was in, he made no move to get comfortable. He was wearing a deep red button-down shirt, open at the throat down to the middle exposing his chest, beneath his black leather jacket. He wore black jeans again and was without the chain necklace.

All his train of thought and senses were on her.

As the women continued laughing, Sora noticed how the sunlight from the other windows perpendicular to the one he was staring through, seemed to illuminate her entire features. It made her skin glow, her hair shine… in all likeness, he was mesmerized.

_She's so…_

He happily took a deep intake of the air around him and allowed the smell of her to intoxicate him, not just her blood scent, but her shampoo, body lotion, anything with a fragrance on her. There was also that faint, lingering familiarity on her, though he couldn't trace it. He found grinding his claws into the rooftop beneath, did little to help the sensation he was feeling. He began to narrow his eyes.

…

_All day, since sunrise had peeked over the city's horizon, Sora tried and failed getting that girl out of his mind. It was so intense that he couldn't stand it and decided he needed to see her again. And as a vampire inheriting powerful senses, he didn't search long until the smell of her blood led him to back her apartment complex. Upon finding the floor she lived on, he jumped with ease to the 11__th__ level and stood on her balcony until he discovered the open window round the other side of the building. _

_The smell was so powerful pouring out of the little cracks of her purple curtains that Sora almost willed himself to go back to his apartment and do agonizing punching exercises to his wall and floor until this feeling subsided. But he chose against it and decided to jump on the little ledge that windowsill pertained and push apart the curtains with his hands._

_Extra cautious about entering the privacy of a woman's sleeping quarters was something he'd normally these days not give a damn about because what he wanted he'd get anytime he needed it. But something within him… something about this girl, kept his primal and male urges in line and he was more to respecting her by not disturbing her peace and surroundings. _

_As the curtains pulled away, Sora quirked an eyebrow as he watched her sleep, the sun slowly rose behind him and in the wide space there was around him, poured soft light into the room and lit the girl's possessions and her features._

_Sora watched her with intense eyes as she heaved her chest up and down in a non-rhythmical pattern and her fluttering breaths caused her head to move around in a slow but frantic movement. She was having an uncomfortable slumber. _

_Sora licked his lips. What he wouldn't give to lie beside her and hush her into a deep, seductive lull. With the way the sun bathed her in light and her body rising in temperature from her soft jitters, it made the man in him aroused, and the vampire in him lustrously hungry. _

_He stared her like that until the sun was lazily high enough for it be around mid-morning and after she showed signs of pulling out of sleep from the heat. When he knew it was time to go, he gently pulled the curtains back to their previous position, smiling softly to her face as he did so. _

…

And now he were was again, watching her like before, seeing her enveloped in the sun's rays just as she was earlier that morning.

Sora's claws dug into the roof tiles so aggressively that it took a while before he realized that they had gone at least an inch in. Quickly pulling them out, he noted how bloody his fingers were from the cuts he'd obtained. Bringing them one at a time into his mouth to suck them gently, he continued his lookout onto the girl.

They had long finished laughing and were now talking, something inaudible to his ears. He hoped that the completion of the second task would be able to give him something useful like sensitive hearing or x-ray vision… he could spy on the girl better that way.

Sora shook his head. Was he crazy? That was just perverted. Sure he was into sex, but he wasn't going to be a stalker or creepy sicko to get it. As Sora continued to stare at her, he felt more drawn to her. He couldn't understand it. Why was this attraction to her so powerful? And if so, then where was it coming from? If it was only physical, he should've been able to get past that line with her already. If anything, Kairi had more curves than this girl.

Sora rolled his lips into a contorted way. If that _was_ the case… then what kept stopping him to do so? Why couldn't he just jump her for her body and blood like he would anybody else?

Well, he knew the problems to that question.

One, he was strictly on _Strigoi_ initiation, so making love to her without the intention to make her his mate was out of boundaries. Two, he knew it within himself that her blood was special… especially to him. Why? He still couldn't say. But that smell was almost like an elixir to him. He knew drinking her dry would be a perfectly good waste.

Roxas, Axel, and the rest of them wouldn't have been impressed.

Sora stopped licking his fingers. His eyes still fixed on the girl's body in the store, he watched long enough until he saw her walk away out of his window view. With her gone, he suddenly felt a shiver of loneliness and disappointment run through him.

The mixture was both familiar and alien to him. He'd felt that some days at the mansion (no surprise with the type of family he lived with), but… it suddenly seemed different.

He couldn't put his finger on it… but maybe it was just the exhaustion of watching her and straining himself.

He gritted his teeth. Oh, how much he wanted her so badly! If Sora's heart was real, he knew it'd be beating rapidly. With an angry sigh, he pulled himself up to stand on the edge, and careful with his footing, he jumped down into the alleyway below and headed to walk out into the streets.

He'd find the girl again later after he'd taken a breather.

---

--

-

Naminé shouted another goodbye for the night to her manager and made a little skip in her step through the front door of the shop and headed down the west side of the street. Sundays were her favourite time of the working week because the shop always closed early at 6:00 p.m. and she liked the extra hours to venture through the busy district of the city. And with a congratulatory well-done on the project and a received raise that Naminé had been hoping for, she felt well-accomplished. She smiled sadly.

_Dad would've been proud._

After making a first stop to the bank and depositing the well-earned money with the money already saved, enough for her next two rental payments and some new textbooks needed for the next year, Naminé was all smiles. She'd been working hard and it was starting to pay off. Upon leaving the bank, she knocked into a man who was coming in and she immediately flew her eyes up, praying it was him.

Upon seeing blue eyes, she couldn't suppress a wide, hopeful smile. Then she noticed his perplexed demeanour and realized that it was not the man she was hoping to see. Bashfully apologizing, she got out of his way and tried to cover her embarrassment with the jean jacket zipped up to her chin again.

As she walked down the pavement to the busier parts of the district, Naminé fumed over her little accident. She was being too paranoid. Liking a guy didn't mean he was going to appear everywhere she was, just so they'd end up being together.

She lost her rhythm of walking and stumbled a bit forward before finding composure again.

Did she seriously like this guy after one meeting? She shook her head. Okay, maybe it was two meetings, but after diving deeper into it, Naminé couldn't deny her feminine yearnings.

He had character. He had personality…sorta. He was daring, protecting her like that. And, the man was _hot_.

She blushed furiously. It was all getting too weird. Walking a bit faster, Naminé decided maybe getting a coffee would help ease her wandering thoughts.

---

--

-

"Here you go miss, one regular caffé latté for here, enjoy." The cashier winked at her as he handed her the saucer with steaming liquid in its contents. Naminé was flushed considerably but replied a sweet 'Thank you' as she took it and turned slowly.

Thinking random things as she made her way across the café to find a suitable, comfortable, and quiet place to relax alone, Naminé felt very serene in the warm environment. As she placed her saucer and purse on the table of her choice by the side windows, she sat herself comfortably (and with ease to her lower back) across to it, peering at her reflection in the glass. She smiled then looked down to her hot drink and began stirring it with the silver spoon placed beside it. As she stirred in a slow motion, she looked back up to her reflection then directed it to the people about on the outside of the café.

Despite Sunday to be a short, quiet and rest-oriented day of the week, this city functioned differently and it was just as busy and crowded as it was during the day of anytime of the week. So even though she was alone, Naminé felt security in knowing this.

Moving onto to different topics, she jumped on thoughts: like what to expect at work tomorrow now that the big goal was done, what to cook for Tuesday, why universities were given three months and not two like high school, what pants to wash, if she knew the cashier from the campus because he looked so familiar, and what they put in these drinks.

Then her mind drifted to last night again. The thought made the base of her spine tingle again. Resting her head in her left hand, she looked deeply into her own reflection and watched how the lights above her made her hair shine. She pursed her lips in thought then frowned a little.

She went on to think about her dad and it made her heart crack. As much as she was more feminine than most people would find, Naminé hadn't cried about him since the day she found out about his death by the police. She wondered if she was really that cold-hearted – it made her frown a little deeper.

She was feeling more happiness than sorrow these past couple days because of what events had unfolded…. Naminé felt guilty. Her father was her only real family left. There shouldn't been a deeper mourning for him.

Her dad was an orphan, marrying a woman disowned by her own family (also erasing them from memory) who then died some months after their divorce, left a grave truth in Naminé's soul that she truly was alone. To forever carry the name _Veile_ but have no ties whatsoever to anyone else. There was no other family by that name, as much as she tried to dig up unfortunately.

But her dad always said to keep up the positive and keep on living. He was always saying happy-go-lucky things like that, despite their rough life.

Naminé smiled. He would have been proud to see her try then. Then again, as a child, she hardly ever cried.

She amazed herself with the endurance she could tolerate. After being thrown to the ground twice and once to the wall, then terribly mortified of what could've happened, it all should've kept her from leaving her apartment for days. But her she was, not even a full 24 hours after it happened, and she was out on the streets again by herself feeling totally unnerved. It was a great feeling.

Naminé sighed dreamily and stirred the liquid more slowly.

And to think, she might not have lived to see this day if it not for… she smiled.

"Oh god, those blue eyes…"

Naminé knew in herself that she had to find someway to contact that man. She still had to thank him. All she did that night was expose her body and barely say a word to him as he upped and left with the dead rapist in his one-armed hold.

That thought alone of his strength made her shiver. Not to mention that oh so breathtaking moment they shared before the rain started pouring.

Naminé blushed heavily and looked down to her cup. She closed her eyes, still smiling. She lifted her caffe latte and took her first sip, enjoying the hot liquid run down into the pit of her stomach warming her insides and making her feel ten times hotter than she already felt.

_There were so many things she wished she had the brain to say while they stayed in that moment… _

As she put the cup down, she looked to different spots around the café in the glass, taking in different things.

…_how many emotions she wanted to see run through his face instead staring intently on the blue around his irises…._

Stopping slowly on a point behind her, Naminé licked her lips. The drink suddenly made her feel too hot. She continued to stare at the point in the reflection feeling suddenly very naughty.

…_.there were so many actions she wished she could have taken being in that moment with him…so many parts of him she could've touched…._

Sora blinked his eyes thrice in shock. What… just happened?

Naminé's gaze into the reflection began to glaze over, but somehow seemed to intensify as well.

…_she wished she had the nerve to lift herself off the wall and move closer to his body…_

Long forgetting the drink beneath her, Naminé let a loud clinking sound emanate from the spoon she dropped. She had not moved her head from its gazing position.

… _if only she had taken the extra power to bring her hands up from the brick wall and place them on top his chest… to tightly fist his shirt between her fingers…_

Sora's mouth ran dry and couldn't pull his gaze away from her. He didn't know how to react to her sudden behaviour. He was just as much transfixed on her as she was on him. Her hypnotic gaze even if only in glass, was starting to borrow into his soul. He continued to look but didn't move. Was she really staring back him?

Naminé mechanically lifted her right hand to touch a point on her throat. The blush on her cheeks becoming very deep and her eyes still unblinking onto the glass reflection. Many onlookers on the street stared at her curiously through the glass. Her breathing was heavy and battered, her skin felt aflame.

…_to pull his tall, lean body closer to her face and whisper huskily into his ear, 'Take me now.'_

And just like that, her intensive stare was directly on him through the glass reflection. She pulled the hand on her throat down to unbutton the top two buttons of her blouse and began to rub her heated skin above the valley of her breasts.

Sora gasped softly, his eyes widened.

"Whoa…"

Now he was terribly confused. How could she keep looking at him like that through the glass? Why was she doing all these actions? He felt her arousal peak and her blood spike dangerously again. Was she doing this all on purpose? How could she? They'd only met once. Okay, well maybe twice but that couldn't have been enough to turn her on so much.

Hell, he knew he could have that effect on women but still, this was strange. As he continued to stare her from his seating place behind her, he felt much unearthed.

After Naminé had left her workplace, Sora continued to follow her. Sometimes on rooftops, other times behind her on the street.

When she had entered the café, he risked it upon himself to watch her from within the store. So choosing a table behind hers with his back turned to her, he decided to steal quick glances at her in the reflection of the glass every chance he got to turn his head around. To be in the presence of her ignorant bliss and contented warmth, he found both the will and assurance to keep his bloodlust intact. This game of observation was really fun to him.

He'd been able to sit there like that for a good couple minutes until he finally decided that it was time to leave her alone. He'd follow her home again tonight just in case she needed it.

So, he took one more look her way before departing. He couldn't do much else afterwards.

At the same time of turning, she'd caught his gaze in the glass and was suddenly freezing all time between them. At first, Sora thought it was sweet. Now as he analyzed her, he began thinking this was all a bad idea.

"Why is she....?"

Sora pulled his gaze away from her hands and looked into her eyes again. That intense unblinking stare was still directed towards him. As Sora stared harder he noted how foggy the actual perception through her eyes was. It was almost dream-like.

Like a hypnotization.

Sora blinked multiple times. A dawning of realization flew over him and he dared to meet his own reflection in the glass. With widened eyes, he gritted his teeth.

"Fuck."

No wonder she'd been staring so intently on him.

Sora squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. Looking back into his reflection, he cursed again. The fiery yellow irises didn't disappear and the girl was still in a trance.

Why hadn't he realized sooner? All this arousal and yearning had turned on his vampiric instincts.

_To get what you want, to get what you need, to lure without deed. _

His golden eyes had been on her so desirably that they hypnotized her into wanting him, the way he wanted her. A special and effective gift vampires possessed to get a meal or lover, but a cheap shot nonetheless.

That girl, whether her attraction for him was little or great, was slowly burning up for sex, all because he didn't remember that tiny misstep.

Sora quickly looked back to her face. She was still entirely focused on his being in the glass. She didn't need to turn around to know he was there. All she had to do was present herself to him – no matter if people were staring.

Naminé lifted her hand from her chest and started wiping the developing perspiration on her neck. She was so hot for him. All of her emotions were telling her to take the initiative and confront him herself. And in this surreal haze of desire, she greatly obliged.

Naminé, though still so turned on and focused on the man behind her, reached blindly for her purse across the table and proceeded to slowly stand up, her eyes never leaving his.

Sora beat her to it. He jumped up out of his seat and quickly looked away. He had to get out of here before her growing behaviour started a scene. As he turned and headed for the side exit near his table, he didn't look back. He knew she was still watching him.

"Shit. Why? _Why_ am I such a damn idiot?"

He pushed the door open and headed out into the busy street looking for the closest alleyway to walk into. He hoped to get to one in time so he could jump away from here. He didn't want his own desires for her to cloud what morals he was carrying for himself, especially in this predicament of time.

As Sora continued to beat his feet against the pavement, he skilfully dodged people coming in the other directions, and was climbing in speed toward a break in the building strips he saw far ahead. The lights leading toward it were less bright in contrast to the ones around him currently and the crowds seemed to subside as he approached the edges of the busy district. This was clearly leading to a dead-ended way where many people chose to avert.

It was perfect but damn it, he could still feel her eyes following him.

Sora occasionally turned back to see if she was still pursuing, and sure enough she was in harmony with his own tactics. She narrowly missed on-goers moving in her opposite direction and was walking swiftly but steadily toward him.

Her eyes never broke the trance. If anything, the chase made it far worse. Looking back ahead of him, Sora reached the end of the sidewalk and took a sharp turn into the alleyway. Catching his eyes in the window of the last store of the strip, he mentally cursed again for the yellow irises had not disappeared.

The alleyway was dark but still collected light from the streetlights around it. The buildings that sandwiched on either side looked old as the bricks were an aging dark grey with apical plants climbing like vines high up the walls. The black old-style steel ladders and balconies for fire escapes that carried to higher levels were rusted and wet, water droplets falling every now and then. Due to the rain the night previous, the humidity was low, the air was cool, and the smell of rainwater wafted everywhere. The walls themselves were dank and moist.

Sora advanced quickly to the end of the alleyway, stepping through what little puddles there were left, his hands balled within the pockets of his jacket. He was careful not to fist them so tightly.

When he neared the end of the wall he was ready to jump. He was sure he had walked fast enough for her not to pass the alleyway yet. Placing a hand on the wall, he bent his knees slightly. Preparing for the takeoff, he heard a low roll of thunder in the sky above him.

"It's gonna rain again?"

He grunted and readied for the push.

Sora made an "Oof" sound.

He wasn't prepared for _that_ kind of push.

Naminé, closer to Sora than he had originally thought, saw him standing at end of the alleyway with his back turned to her. Thinking he was ready for her and her silent pleas for pleasure, she broke the last bit of distance between them and ran full force to him.

She pulled him aggressively by the shoulders and spun him around, pushing him roughly against the wall and pressing the front of her body as humanely possible against him. Her jean jacket was unzipped.

Sora stared down at her with wide golden eyes in different types of shock. One being how she caught up to him so fast, and another being the strength she expressed in having him so close. As he stared down into her face, she cheeks were red from running, her breath panting from exhaustion and her crystal blue eyes cloudy with hypnotic desire.

In summary, it was really making him feel uncomfortable.

Sora shook his head wildly, his brown spikes flying in all directions. He grabbed her shoulders as well, trying to pull her off of him.

"No, this isn't right."

Naminé's panting and blind obsession over him did not let his voice reach her ears. Her breath faulted and she began speaking in husky low tones.

"I want you. I want you…" Sora shut his eyes.

"No, no you don't."

"I want you so badly. My name is Naminé. Lark Naminé Veile… Please take me. I'm nineteen. I go to Agar U. …."

"No, stop. Please don't tell me this."

Axel's voice drifted into Sora's mind.

'_Sora…you know you're not supposed to find personal information about your victims…it just makes it harder for you to—' _

"I live alone in my own apartment complex. I have no family. Just take me here..."

Naminé didn't listen to him. She continued to grab hold his shoulders blurting out her entire life, exposing her vulnerabilities so as to make it easier for him.

In reality, it was only making it harder.

Sora kept his eyes squeezed shut, trying anything, thinking anything to get his mind off her. Only until _he_ stopped desiring her, would she then stop too.

But it was so damn hard when she was acting like this, pleading her needs, giving herself up to him. He already felt a previous attraction to her. Sora gritted his teeth. As he did so, the fangs of his incisors began to elongate, as did his claws.

He had to fight it, for both their sakes.

"No. No…N-Naminé…" The name was like velvet on his tongue. A foreign delight.

She breathed heavily leaning her face up to his, placing her cheek in the crook of his neck.

"Yes… yes, say my name. Take me here... Take me now. No one will see…. I'm an orphan… No one will care...."

Sora stopped moving. He stopped shaking her and stood there limp for seconds.

_Orphan…_

He suddenly felt a pang of guilt and pity for her. She looked like she was an accomplished young woman as he had been watching her all day, working hard and pushing on her positive strides to make a living. Now hearing this, he felt more pride for her than he did before.

Sora bent his head down, so his face was in the crook of her neck as well. Beneath her curtain of blonde hair, his nose pushed up against her skin. He held his breath. Her skin was sticky with light sweat.

A crack of lightning some ways in the sky, illuminated the alleyway. The rain began to fall gently.

He couldn't do it. Even if he was able to kill her _or _take her here, he just couldn't do it. He didn't have the heart to break a woman so strong. As he held his breath, he talked into her skin. His eyes still closed.

"You don't have anyone?"

Naminé lifted her head from his neck and threw it back, looking to the sky, letting the rain dampen her face. As she closed her eyes, she let out a soft groan with almost an erotic feeling.

He had not done anything to her yet and she was already on the verge of screaming out in pleasure.

She willed herself to breath deeply then lifted one of her hands from his shoulders to place on the exposed bit of chest Sora had from his unbuttoned shirt. She sighed dreamily as she began to teasingly stroke it.

"Yes… my father was murdered the other day in an alleyway just… like…this. Now I have nobody… Why? …Does that turn you on?" Naminé giggled, oblivious to her emotional comments. Sora opened his eyes.

_The other day?...Was that…?_

Pulling his head out of her neck, he looked down at her with his fiery golden eyes. Curious, he sniffed the air around her. The arousal she put off and that sweet blood scent of hers was enough to drive him insane but as he sniffed around them further, he picked something up.

Taking her face in both hands, Sora leant her head to one side as he closed his eyes and breathed in the natural scent of her skin. Naminé sighed in pleasure all the while making more sex pleas. He mumbled to himself.

"I knew I smelled something familiar about you."

Pulling away from her entirely, Sora moved around in their current position until he had her backed up to the wall. He put both hands on either side of her head and looked intently into her eyes. His amber gaze was deep into her.

He did not care that his clenched teeth revealed his fangs to her. She was in a daze, she wouldn't remember. As much as Sora knew this wouldn't work, there was nothing else that came to mind to pull her of this vampire hypnosis. He had to try something to pull her out of it.

Sora growled softly in the back of his throat.

"Ugh, why didn't I remember any sooner? It said _Veile_ on his ID card. Listen Naminé, you can't love me. You don't even know me…. A-and I'm the one who killed your father."

Naminé sighed again and began to unbutton the front of his shirt with her hands.

"I don't care… All I want is you. He would've understood." When she was done unbuttoning his shirt, she took his hands.

"I _need_ you. Why are you so hesitant to take me?"

Sora growled louder.

"No, you don't get it! You wouldn't want me after what I've done! Can't you see that? You're only being delusional. Y-you're under a spell. If you know what I really was, you would be – !"

"You know, I've been attracted to you since we bumped into each other yesterday. And then you came and rescued me… how can you deny this favour if I am willingly giving it you?" As Naminé spoke, she guided Sora's hands to unbutton the front of her blouse. He was so busy trying to convince her otherwise that he didn't even notice.

"Because you're _not_ willingly giving it me. You don't get it…"

The rain was making it harder for him to keep a solid focus on her. Sora clenched his teeth tighter and narrowed his eyes, the yellow irises were burning.

As much as he considerably loved seeing her like this – it was only a wet dream of his for hours – Sora couldn't handle it. For seeing her true natural beauty and bright essence, the spirit she possessed drew him like a moth to a flame.

Primal attraction had always been there, but now Sora could feel it running deeper than that. He had to protect her. Especially from himself.

But was he actually growing an infatuation for her? Was it affection?

His heart ached.

"Naminé…" The sound of her name brought a new heat in the pit of his stomach.

As he looked at her, he watched how her lips curved into a shy smile and her breath was ragged. Her cheeks were red and flustered, and the rain formed tiny beads that dripped down her bangs and curled her ends slightly. Her eyes were raw with lust.

Was that how his gaze perceived when he wanted blood?

The thought hit him like a train.

Sora frowned slightly but Naminé took no notice.

The smell of her blood was lingering like thick smoke in the air to him. It was so good, so powerful. It made him feel stronger, it made him feel alive.

And it was still pumping in her veins, covered by a layer of skin. To break the skin open and smell it freely for all its worth….

Sora shut his eyes again.

"Naminé, I want you _so_ badly. More than you realize."

She smiled dreamily and brought one of his hands up to sit on her open chest again, rubbing the back of it with her thumb. Her other hand guided his other to her hip, pulling dangerously in the direction of her jeans zipper.

"Then _want_ it! Want me, take me!"

Sora leaned in and began descending his lips close to hers.

Feeling so heated in the moment, Sora kept his hold on her hip while after a moment of stroking her chest, he moved his other hand up to grip the back of her neck, grabbing a fistful of golden, wet hair.

The intensity of the raw passion Naminé felt coming off of this man was enough to make her go limp. She pleasurably stood there, letting him take every bit he wanted of her. Closing her eyes in bliss, she knew she'd be getting what she wanted very soon.

Sora felt it. The arousal, the blood, the heat – it was all sky-rocketing within her. Feeling so empowered, he started to grip her hip even tighter and slowly pushed her harder into the wall. What more could she do to him?

But when Sora expected it, it didn't come.

Naminé made no move, letting him claim her mouth and sensations. As she stood there limp in his hold, Sora felt like he had done something very wrong. His opened his eyes.

_Oh no! Did I…?_

He pulled away in fear just as he was so dangerously close to touching her lips.

Naminé just stood there patiently, her eyes closed and her mouth still pursed for the kiss.

He never came back. She opened her eyes in mild confusion. There was still that hypnotic glaze in her eyes.

"What's wrong, love?"

Sora was breathing heavily. As much as he was relieved, it was still very real. When she froze in the embrace, the haze of the kiss made him not remember if he had bit her or not. Seeing her now as she was perfectly fine though, he didn't want to risk it anymore.

He pulled away completely. Sora stared at her through his wet chocolate bangs and kept a placid expression. With his mouth in a tight line, he tried to pretend he was no longer interested in her.

"I'm sorry. I can't do this…"

As he said this, his golden yellow irises slowly returned to their ocean blue. His long fangs themselves even shrunk in size. The frenzy was over.

Naminé smiled serenely, grasping his chin with one hand and tilting her hand.

"Alright."

Backing out of her hold, Sora walked a couple feet backwards to another wall.

He knew at anytime, he might want to kill her and take all her blood…

As he continued to stare at her, his heart ached and the emotions he felt whirled like the rain around him.

But then, at the same time… he knew he just couldn't do it.

He knew he somehow found the will to protect her.

He knew he was falling in love with her.

And unless he found the definite reasons aside from her blood and body to animate these feelings, he was going to stay away from her for as long as he could handle.

Because he knew unless he made the intention to make Naminé his mate, the need to have sex with her and bite her was a stupid move to make and out of line with the family rules.

So he backed away slowly, taking in her every detail, promising to forget about her until he sorted this out.

Then swiftly turning, he crouched down and jumped up the building wall. Upon grabbing the building's ledge and swung over and stood on its top. Standing in the rain, he tried to eye Naminé's face in the alleyway below.

She continued to stare at him with intense eyes until reality broke the fog of her hypnosis and she realized how embarrassing all of this must have been.

Quickly looking down to re-button her shirt, Naminé mentally cursed at herself. How come the second time she met this guy, she was half-naked again? Blushing furiously, she re-zipped her jean jacket and looked up again to where he was standing on the building rooftop.

He was gone.

Naminé frowned and felt a deep longing to see him again. As much as she felt controlled by her emotions in the past half-hour, she couldn't deny that what she felt for this man was real.

She wanted him in more ways than one. It ripped her heart out to know how much he wanted her too but chose against his own emotions to stay away from her.

She didn't care what he said, and she couldn't forget.

Naminé turned and stepped her foot in a puddle as she began making her trek. She decided to head home.

* * *

Well, there have it. I hope it was to everyone's liking :) I know I liked it.

Alright things regarding this chapter:  
Like names - the names I chose for this chapter really didn't come from anywhere. They don't really relate to anything in my life or to match with the characters. Although, I _did_ think it would be cool to let _Naminé_ be her middle name. Lark was just a pretty substitute. The name of the streets and her University, they come from different street names throughout Toronto and from different TV shows. Moira and the doctor, not really sure where _those_ came from and I didn't want her father or her boss to have names because there would be complications. You _should_ consider Naminé's parents' lives because they could be significant somewhere. Not sure, in a sequel? Who knows :) Well... I might, haha.

Okay for the flowers - I'm no expert in talking about flowers so when it came to Naminé's favourite, I decided against describing it because it would have been way strange. Just let your imagination run with it :)

I _was _going to make them kiss in this chapter, but I felt it was too early in the story and it would destroy the unkempt passion they were both trying to hide. So you have to live with that :)

Musical inspirations go again to Carter Burwell for his sick compositions for the _Twilight _soundtrack. Tracks, "Bella's Lullaby", "Phascination Phase", "The Lion Fell In Love with the Lamb" and "I Know What You Are" all helped set the tone and mood for this chapter.

And a HUGE thank you to all the reviewers again for being so supportive. Your reviews rocked. Some of them made me laugh (actually MOST of them did, considering your anxiety to my updating skills xD Sorry, haha.) and others I took into thought for brush-ups on my story. So thanks again everyone. And I hope to update soon!

Now for a review :) Feed me reviews.


	6. Day 5

Hey everyone! Here is another fabulous chapter for you to enjoy. Sorry for the delay. My account and the document uploader was shot for days after I got back from the Caribbean (excellent by the way!), so I couldn't do anything about it. Anyway, I'm glad for the quicker update this time around in light of my previous chapters, and all the reviews you've left me. You guys are awesome!! Thanks so much for the support! Well, here's the next instalment of:

_Cold Taste: Day 5_

Quick AN: I thought I'd change to an M-rating after the past couple chapters, but I don't think it's too bad for teen standards. The swearing is major and the sexual description is tame but otherwise, it's all good. For now, anyway.

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"This is stupid."

Naminé plopped herself down on the royal blue loveseat located conveniently in the left-hand corner of her apartment living room. Its tight springs squeaked softly within. The morning light that seemed to pour like honey onto her walls and floor and over her furniture. But despite the warm dawning, she hadn't taken notice.

She cast a tired glance in the direction of her home phone. A grimace was present on her face.

She had just finished making a call to her boss, telling her that light-headedness had come over her and a throat-scratching cough was bothering her too much to come in to work for the day. Though her manager had earnestly sufficed, Naminé couldn't help but look down to the guilt that grew in the pit of her stomach.

She wasn't light-headed, only hungry. And the cough was more of a one-time sneeze after dusting off the shelves in her living room earlier.

Naminé was sure that if her employer didn't take all this fibbing as the truth, then she could only assume that the loss of her father had made her comply. It had been on the news the previous night – late up to standards, but public nonetheless.

Naminé bit her lip gingerly.

Great, now all her friends would call her up to give their sympathies. She really didn't need it anymore, at least for the moment.

Looking away from the phone, Naminé chose to direct her attention to the dining table in her small kitchen. The polished wooden furniture was laden with a fruit bowl, a couple of place mats and two plastic bags containing food and liquid bottles that she'd bought from the market in the district the night before.

She fleeted her eyes over them and looked upon the jean jacket that she'd hung over one of the chairs. She could tell it was still drying from the damp spots it still held. She sucked in a quick breath with a sour look on her face.

"I can't believe this… The second time I see this guy, and I'm half-naked. _Again._"

As she kept mumbling to herself, she got up from her slouched position on the couch and headed over the kitchen, her was destination was the fridge.

"What's up with that?... A-and how did I suddenly end up with him again in an alley? Did he save me somehow again?... And what's with all these _again_'_s_?"

Thinking all these questions, she stopped midway in her walk between the archway of the kitchen and the living room. She turned to rest her palms flat on the island counter while she lifted her head up to stare at the off-lamp that hung low from the ceiling.

"Yeah, like that would happen for a second time. He probably just tried to lure me there, that's all I can remember really..."

Voicing such an opinion, caused her to tense up. She remembered hearing his voice faintly.

_'Naminé, I want you so badly. More than you realize.'_

She shivered.

_How did he know my…? _

The first she suddenly saw of him was like waking from a deep sleep. She recalled him looking down at her from the roof of a building before leaving her in the thunderstorm. Aside from that, all she _could_ remember was his face being so close to hers, and a heat from his body that sky-rocketed her own heat then (and even now). What if he did do something to her? What if she was–?

Naminé immediately stopped this train of thought and felt the same guilt that pooled into the bottom of her stomach that she had after calling in fake-sick for work. She twisted her hands into fists and leaned over them in deep thought.

It was too quick to jump to conclusions. This man had saved her from a terrible murder, and he seemed like a decent guy. Plus, she had been thinking about him in more than friendly-ways for the past couple days and nights. She had to give him _that_ benefit of the doubt.

She bit her lip.

But were those the very factors she admired him for that he might have used to his advantage? What if he was using all these moments to get her at a moment of fortitude and vulnerability? The very thought made her feel more naked than she would've liked to be in front of him.

He could've been lying the whole time. And then again, he might have not.

"He's really pulling my strings…"

She exasperated a frustrated sigh before making her way again for the fridge.

"And that's what makes him so _damn_ sexy."

Pulling out a half-cut onion she decided to use for her breakfast omelette, her thoughts immediately flew to him again.

It was really going to be hard to forget about him like _he_ wanted to.

Naminé doubted she would ever try.

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Sora sighed heavily in his own apartment complex as he stared up into its ceilings groove marks.

He doubted, even from the moment he said it, that it would be easy to forget about the young blonde woman like he wanted to.

_Naminé…_ a word so rich and eccentric… Her face, all flushed and wet from the rain, clouded his vision as he mouthed her name in silence.

For the second time since he'd come face-to-face with her, he almost periled her life before saving her. The second time was obviously harder, but he couldn't deny the will to protect her. Especially when she walked around the city strutting independence like she did… His eyes flecked golden yellow as he thought about it.

"So _damn_ sexy…"

"Well, thank you."

Hearing the sudden intrusion, Sora sat up quickly on his un-sheeted mattress, his arms bent ready and eyes glaring in alert. Realizing it was only Riku jumping gracefully in from the window, Sora instantly dropped his defences and smirked. He moved his body to sit over the edge.

"Well, you look nice."

Riku stepped in wearing a deep wine-coloured button shirt beneath a black business vest and matching pants. The shirts were opened enough to expose his toned chest and thin-chained necklace. Sporting it all off with the regular ebony-shaded trenchcoat, he looked certainly posh for an outing.

"There's a rich bub's gala starting early this afternoon. Gonna try to sneak in and have a little fun. Maybe even get something to eat."

Sora chuckled as the familiar smirk flashed across his friend's face and a glimmer of gold changed his turquoise irises.

"You sick bastard. Like _you_ need to look good to get the ladies."

Riku took this chance to openly look Sora up and down, his smirk grew instantly larger.

"Wish I could say the same for you."

Sora's hair was somehow even more dishevelled than normal, sticking out higher in one place and flattened in another. He clearly hadn't risen from his bed for a couple hours. The ripped, grey shirt he accustomed to wearing the most was crumpled from waves and waves of wrinkles and the black jeans were somewhat covered in blotches of dust. One was pushed up higher than the other. He wore no socks and his thick crown-chain was against his chest at an odd angle.

Sora shot him a glare before giving an airy response.

"You're just jealous I always look this hot."

Riku scoffed and went to walk to a different point in the room. The back of his head was facing Sora as he spoke with a tone of mockery and sarcasm.

"Yeah, that's why that human couldn't keep her hands off you. Congrats on finishing the second task by the way. I saw the dead rapist by the Cathedral on the news."

Sora froze mid-action in trying to re-adjust the necklace around his neck. His face, though void of blood, looked considerably paler.

"Y-….y-you saw?"

Riku knew he wasn't commenting on the immediate news of the criminal.

"Sora, the whole damn family knows."

Sora made a sound that sounded like he bit his tongue or half-choked on a piece of food. He instantly shot up to his feet.

"Fuck, how?!"

"Larxene was in the crowds last night when she saw you walking – more like trying to run – away from this girl. She said she watched for a couple minutes. And you know her, she's a frickin' gossip girl."

As Sora absorbed this, he threw his hands into his hair and made a frustrated groan.

"Shit. _Shit_, Ansem's gonna have a fit over this!!"

Riku ignored his cursings and made to look at him curiously like he hadn't reacted at all. His eyebrows were slightly raised, however.

"So, what? You _like_ her?"

His hands still tangled in his hair, Sora looked up to Riku with wide eyes.

"Uh-N... she just happened to catch me at a bad time, t-that's all! "

For the first time in a while, Riku enjoyed seeing Sora looking so distressed. He never cared enough about anything to freak him out like this. Riku savoured the moment.

"Well, Larxene said you made no move to seduce her like you do on a regular basis, and said that she was also entranced. And don't think I don't remember that hypnotization starts from the root of a vampire's desire for their target…"

After he finished saying this, Riku walked over to Sora's bed and placed one foot on the mattress, leaning his right arm over the high-bent knee. He was grinning.

"So spill. Is she hot?"

Sora sighed angrily and dropped his hand from his head to his sides. He whirled around to stare into Riku's smug look. He tried to burn it out with a glare, though it didn't work.

"Do you _have_ to be a dickhead about it?"

Riku raised his eyebrows in surpise, looking injured.

"Whoa, chill with the hostility, bro."

"Well, I can't take the rest of family in a mellow demeanor right now, so it looks like _you're_ the winner when it comes to who I point my loaded gun at."

Riku chuckled.

"You don't own a gun."

"Try me, you fu– "

"Okay, okay. Sorry! _Jeezus._ Man, you're scary."

Sora took this comment like a sedative and instantly calmed down. Chuckling lightly, his raging face folded into a soft smile and a long, tired sigh escaped his lips. Riku sobered up to it all and smiled too. Running a hand through his brown spikes, Sora grinned shyly down to his silver-haired companion.

"Yeah… she is, I guess. I-in her own way."

Suddenly thinking about her, made his cheeks flush with pleasure. The first time he saw her after colliding in the crowd, he _assumed_ that she'd been a babe by first glance – but any blonde on her ass was hot to him (such a pig characteristic he promised he was desperately trying to mature out of). Then, the second time in the alleyway with the rapist, he concluded that she was only cute. Very pretty, but not model status – despite it though, he loved the look of her. And then, finally for the third time in the new alleyway when she was all over him in a lustrous haze – well, let's just say a cold shower couldn't hoze down the heat he felt from her. She was beautiful in her own way, as he had witnessed from being on espionage, and had two sides of her that proved she could be both cute and sexy. A trait he was severely attractively to.

Riku smiled softly after witnessing the soft and shy change in expression Sora took on.

"That's... sweet."

Sora, lost in the mist of his own thoughts, looked down into Riku's face again. He had turned to stare out the window as he thought about Naminé.

"Huh?"

Riku went to move this leg and body to sit comfortably on the mattress. It groaned and creaked with age like it always did.

"You must really like her or something not to bite her, especially when she was so under it."

Sora stared into his face a bit longer before exasperating a long sigh and going to sit on the mattress next to Riku.

"I-I…I don't know, Riku."

The silver-haired man raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

Sora looked down to the floor. The morning's sunlight coming through the window shone upon the maple hardwood floor of his bedroom. It was lightly powdered in a layer of dust. He mentally reminded himself to sweep it later.

"There were so many things I learned about her… S-she's got a job. A happy life. She's pretty smart…"

Riku made a light scoff. Sora figured he was probably countering that comment with the way she unwillingly exposed herself to him in an unladylike disposition. He ignored it.

"…Riku, she was an independent, beautiful, young woman. A-and to top it… she's an orphan…"

Riku felt a nerve twitch painfully within him. He suddenly understood why Sora held back when it came to the girl. Despite all the factors, Sora always had a soft spot for orphaned children.

Riku let out a long breath that he didn't realize he had been holding.

"Sora, I..."

Hearing his name, the brunette shook his head slowly.

"Riku, no… Don't say it…. At least–"

"Look, whatever you do, just… just be careful, you know? I know you haven't figured it out yet, but unless this chase becomes a part of your habit, remember…you've only got 10 days."

Sora bent his head so low, his chin was resting against his chest. As the chain around his neck was circling in a lazy motion beneath his gaze, he stared down at his claws. They hadn't been cut in hours and while they weren't as long as they could be at lethal point, they were still longer than he regularly liked. He sighed again.

"I just wish… I knew what that girl… what, what _Lark Naminé Veile_ has over me."

Riku smirked.

"Sexy name."

Sora chuckled and smirked as well.

"Always the mood killer, huh?"

Riku took this as a pin to a balloon, totally popping what tension had filled the bedroom. He laughed lightly and got up from the mattress to walk toward the window. Its wide open breeze flew into his silver tresses, blowing them gently around. He narrowed his eyes into the view.

"Be careful, _alright_? I don't want you making a _dickhead_ of yourself just by giving it all away for this one girl. Like I said, make sure she's worth it. A classic beauty."

"Hey, that's my word! You can't use it."

Riku laughed again and then went placidly blank again. He made to jump to roost on the windowsill's ledge again. He looked at Sora over his shoulder.

"Sora, I'm _serious_. Don't be stupid. You realize how much of a mess it already is for the family?"

Hearing the mention of the family again, Sora growled low in the back of his throat and pushed himself off the bed. So much for a warm departure.

"Ugh alright, Riku! I get it! Stopping reminding me the whole damn time."

Riku took this snap as a provocation to heart. He jumped down from the windowsill back into Sora's room, and stood tall while facing him down. The jump made the dust whirl around his black boots.

"Of course I have to remind you! You're walking on glass with a stunt like this! You think Ansem's gonna give a fuck about the girl? Let alone that you– "

"I told you! I don't like her!"

Riku bit the inside of his mouth, puncturing the gum walls with his fangs.

"So what was all that _crap_ you told me a moment ago?!"

Sora looked down the ground hurriedly. His left hand fisted tightly, already feeling the claws break the skin apart.

"I mean I– look, Naminé doesn't know me. Or my name. So I'm trying to stay clear of her now. I'm trying to forget ab– "

"Cut the shit out, Sora! You know for a damn second that you want her! So stop trying to tell yourself otherwise!"

In the height of their argument, his fangs had grown a considerable length. Upon hearing the word 'want', his eyes flecked yellow for a moment. Sora gritted his teeth tightly, shutting his eyes in the process. He opened his mouth to say something vicious back to Riku's face before he stopped himself.

Shutting it, he exhaled a deep breath through his nostrils and pushed past Riku with a force only he was capable of making. The strength of it had Riku backtracking on his steps, his mouth was slightly agape. Sora did not bother to look back at him as he headed for the window. As he glanced at the walls, he noted how the evening sky made them eerily blue and unfocusedly shadowed. It was probably around eight.

"I'm going out to eat. Have fun at the party."

The words were thick with acid.

Riku only stared as Sora took one leap to the windowsill and pushed himself off immediately after. He made no move to watch him fall over the side of the building.

Much like Axel, he squeezed the bridge of his nose in annoyance, his eyes were pressed shut.

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"So Miss, as you can see by these test results, your father was completely drained of blood fluids. We can't explain it, we don't have the sufficient notions of science to support our theories."

Naminé looked up from the folder she was currently reading.

"And they would be?"

Dr. Talon visibly flushed in facial expression as he lead the way from the main office of the Forensics department into a deeper part of the examination rooms. The hallway was dark with little light and the two-way mirrors of each room did little to help. He averted his gaze to said mirrors as they walked.

"Well… considering the only applied pressure was to his neck right before the blood was drained, we believe it was _sucked_ out."

Naminé narrowed her eyes.

"Only? The document here reads that he was strangled and knocked into the brick walls. You can't tell me you haven't considered those factors as responsible for his death, can you?"

Dr. Talon shook his head.

"Yes, that was true. But the force of the other two assaults wouldn't have been enough to kill him. He was considerably healthy before it all happened, correct?"

Naminé heaved a soft sigh.

"Yeah… He never went to the hospital for anything. The worst he'd ever had was getting the shingles."

Dr. Talon nodded.

"Ah, here we are."

The both of them stopped in front of a two-way mirror with a door a little to the right labelled 'A-13.' Beneath the label read the bolded title of Mr. Veile's name, followed by a list of coordinators and members working on his autopsy as well as scheduled times for certain actions to be taken place. Naminé found her private viewing under the 8:00 p.m. heading. Dr. Talon turned to her.

"Are you ready?"

She nodded. Dr. Talon tapped the glass and the two-way mirror illuminated light within and became a transparent window.

As Naminé looked in, her mind was spinning. There were about ten other people inside the room, some standing, some sitting at desks, and others moving around to speak and hand out materials and tools. At one desk, two women were examining his clothes at a desk – one swabbing the blood stains and the other dicing chemicals while looking beneath the microscope.

At another, three men were taping labels to different Ziplocs they had already analysed while talking amongst themselves. Two other women were walking about giving utensils to everyone in general and one man near the back was on the phone while holding up a bloody Ziploc to his face carefully examining it.

And then Naminé saw it, near to the left of the room (closer to her viewing), was another man and woman who sat and stood straining their faces beneath the white cloth that covered her father's body. They both had surgical masks on and white latex gloves while poking and squeezing parts of him with metal apparatus. They seemed to be talking to one another the way their heads and eyes kept flitting over to each other.

Naminé brought a hand to her mouth.

'…_Ugh, why didn't I remember any sooner?'_

She felt her breath hitch and her chest become tight.

'…_It said __Veile__ on his ID card…''…only applied pressure was to his neck…'_

With the gaze of a cat, she slowly went over the familiar curves and lumps she could recognize of her father on the folds of the white sheet.

An image from yesterday of the man put hands on the wall with her in between flashed in her mind.

_No…_

'…_you can't love me…_''_…believed_ _it was __sucked__ out._'

_No. No, he can't be…_

The shimmer of his yellow eyes bore into her like the taste of bitter medicine running down her throat.

_B-but I…it isn't - !_

Her blue eyes widened as she couldn't get the picture of the death note tied around the big toe of her father's foot out of her mind.

_He…how – w-why?_

Then, a flash of elongated incisors. His voice. His breath on her neck. The feel of what felt like claws digging gently into her hip.

_No, no… no…_

'_I'm starting to believe that vampires are running around this city…_''…_A-and I'm the one who killed your father._'

A single tear escaped her eye and a light sob escaped her throat. And suddenly a horrible, surreal, impossible…but, irrevocably true conclusion came to her.

_But it's true… it's true._

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Hearing a loud shuffling like boots behind him, Sora turned his head around behind him to see Roxas stomping up the street toward him.

Sora grinned as he lifted himself away from the dead dog he had been sucking on to watch his older brother coming up the path. The taste of metallic bitterness wavered on his tongue. He was disgusted in the back of his mind with this immoral action, but he chose to conceal the expression.

They were on the edge of town, in a back street behind a row of tall abandoned building complexes. Because it was a path remotely used for walking on foot or by cycling, years of being unused had left them in the hands of overgrown weeds and cracked pavement. There were unclipped bushes, growing messily along the ends. A little ways behind Sora lead to a hauntingly, abandoned children's playground and from where Roxas was coming, the longer road back to the empty parking lots. Even now, as Sora watched Roxas approach, he could hear the eerie creak and moans of the metal swings and meryy-go-round behind him. The shadows of the buildings on each side did much to block out what little sunlight was trying to penetrate the street, leaving contrasted patches in different places. The area was deserted (deserted for years), so no one could witness the exchange about to made by the two strange siblings. Sora ignored the look of piss and frustration that stretched itself over Roxas' handsome features.

"Hey, bro. How'd you f– !"

There was a loud sound like a fly swatter hitting the interior of a plastered wall. The slap Roxas smacked onto his younger brother's face etched itself deep into his right cheek. The red sore on the skin surrounded the three long gashes he had scratched with his claws. He wore of look of greater frustration. He had meant to cut him with all five fingers.

As Sora pulled away in the height of it, he hissed angrily and threw the palm of his right hand over it. Looking absolutely stunned, Sora flew his blue eyes from the dizzying bushes around them up to Roxas' face. His pointy blonde hair seemed to sway though Sora couldn't feel the evening breeze.

"Fuck, Roxas! What the hell!?!"

Roxas took this chance to grab him by the collar and throw him against the tight chicken wire that created a fence along the path. Though Sora could have easily defended himself with the greater amount of power he had over his older brother, he was still dazed by the smack and the throw. Turning back around quickly to stare at his brother, Roxas approached him again. Sora tensed.

"You idiot!! You're such a _damn_ idiot you know that?! How could you expose yourself to her?!"

Realizing what this was about, Sora pulled himself up straight and clung a hand to the fence. His eyes glared.

"I didn't, okay? She was entranced."

"Doesn't matter! She always knows too much now that you've met her like, what? Three fricking times already?"

"Shut up. The first time we were in a crowd. The second time I was saving her and the third, t-the third was just inconvenient."

"Well, how about the lifting that body with one arm?! And your eyes?! And the jumping on the roof?! That's common sense, my ass."

Sora shook his head angrily.

"How the hell do you know all that?! And why are you so mad?! I'd think Ansem would be the first to piss off and beat the shit out of me."

Roxas pointed his finger in the air towards him, then began waving it around in the air.

"_I'm_ the one who's pissed! Ansem? Oh, he's past that. He's furious. Which is why I'm taking you back to the manor to see him."

As he said this, he already advanced on Sora ready to hit him again. Sora, who was naturally reflexive, brought up his right forearm automatically to block the punch. He pushed Roxas back with his own punch then jumped out of the way.

"There is no way in _hell_ I'm going back there now! I've got 15 days, like you said."

Roxas grunted.

"10 days _now_, dumbass."

Roxas had quickly regained composure and pushed off the ground to launch again.

As kids, Sora and Roxas had sparred, wrestled, and fought like all young boys did. Although their form of fighting were more advanced than most kids their age would've learned (intensive lessons of offensive and defensive training as ruled by Ansem), they rivalled each other in every way on the battlefield. With Riku sometimes along for the ride, they'd also practice with the weapons in the manor. But that was limited and both brothers preferred hand-to-hand combat.

Even now, Sora was steadily biting back against Roxas' advances, throwing multiple punches to his head while continually blocking kicks to his stomach. Though Sora was stronger in force, Roxas made up for it in agility. His quick dodging had Sora panting hard beneath the force that kept coming back.

"W-what I don't understand is – is why _you_ care so much?! I thought you'd be proud of something like this."

"Not when it j-jeopardizes the entire family secret! Ugh, and seeing _you _screw up so quickly when you specifically promised me you wouldn't!"

Sora grunted as well, gritting his teeth and baring his fangs. Roxas continued. Their blocks and hits shuddered their bodies and their words.

"What you're doing i-is reckless! She… s-she might have already figured it out by now! Ugh! We could be discovered! Convicted! _Hunted down_, by other clans w-who fear for their own lives! How-_how_ do you know she's even – e-even a… I know you've changed a bit over the years, but _dammit_ Sora! You're acting like an immature kid with this tramp! I could _kill_ her just you'd stop fucking around with the family's reputation. Drink her blood… ugh, leave her for dead…"

Hearing this comment, Sora blinked furiously. His eyes changed from blue to yellow and with a violent shove of his body, he sent Roxas flying back some metres on the ground. As he advanced on the fallen sibling, he was growling loudly. In what little light the evening was providing, Roxas frighteningly realized how dangerous his brother looked bathed in orange and blue hues, with his eyes ablaze and his expression murderous.

Though it was shocking, Roxas didn't buckle down and went to stand, kneeling one knee before him and placing another hand down to steady him. He stared up to Sora feeling small beneath the power his younger brother seemed to emanate.

Sora narrowed his eyes. He raised a hand above his head.

To hell with Roxas. With the rest of the family. They were always building him up for this moment, this initiation. Now that he could finally attain the freedom they were feeding to him on a plate for years, they were going to try to control him?! To bring him back to the manor and put him under lock and key like they used to?! It was their fault. They made him grow up to be like this! Sora though of killing Roxas right here, then running back to mansion to finish off the people who pissed him off first – Larxene first – that conniving bitch, followed by Riku – the arrogant jackass, and so on – then he'd go and kill the girl.

Naminé! Roxas was right. It was her damn fault too that he was so stressed with these problems. Come to think of it, it was _all_ her fault! First her blood, then her pathetic life in danger that caused him to race to her rescue, then her incapability to control her sexual urges for him in public! The whole family had his head for these problems… when it was her all along! The hand he was holding above his head began to shake.

Sora wondered delightfully if he should drop the whole family killing spree and just her of being the scapegoat she already was. Maybe then Ansem and Roxas would stop trying to have his ass and go after her. As he thought about a family buffet with her naked on the table, a heavy breathing fell over him and a slow run of saliva ran down his chin like it did the night with Axel. His eyes were unfocused and were no longer staring down at Roxas.

"Sora?! Sora, enough! Stop it!"

Roxas immediately jumped up to grab hold Sora's shoulders, his eyes strained in concern. Sora didn't move to bring his arm down, though it shook tremendously.

Despite his apologetic feeling for provoking Sora, Roxas had to keep the authority and stability he held as the older sibling. It was hard to see his once soft, sweet, and shy brother evolving into this confused, arrogant, uncontrolled vampire. Becoming a _Strigoi_ must have a really hard effect on him. But considering all the stories of mental breakdowns and agonizing pain that Axel and Ansem told him about what previous _Strigoi's_ had gone through, he also discovered how emotionally and physically strong Sora endured it. He was reacting like a regular maturing vampire. You wouldn't know he was the most powerful in the family because of his behaviour and overdosing. Remembering the mention of the name, he furrowed his eyebrows.

"What did N-Naminé do to you…?"

"N…N-na…Na..miné…?"

_Naminé…_

_blood…_

_claws… _

_running… _

_Naminé… _

_screaming… _

_blood… _

_hallways… _

_Naminé… _

_laughter… _

_fangs… _

_Naminé… _

_blonde hair… _

_blue eyes… _

_Naminé… _

_flowers…_

_whispering… _

_Naminé…_

_a smile…_

…_Naminé._

Suddenly the violent images and murderous thoughts that fogged Sora's mind like cigarette smoke blew away. What remained was the undeniable weight of guilt that climbed in his throat like vomit, and the angelic face of a sleeping Naminé, bathed in morning sunlight.

Sora's eyes returned to their ocean blue, though his heavy breathing did little to change.

Roxas eyed him cautiously as Sora slowly lowered his arm to his side. A look of pity and relief mixed in his face. As if forgetting the violent fight they just had, Sora dropped his head down onto his brother's shoulder, exhaling a deep sigh and wrapping his arms around him in a brotherly way.

"I…I-I don't know…"

Roxas returned the action, patting his back in the process. Sora kept talking.

"I'm just so tired now, Roxas. I feel like I…this…she…"

Roxas continued looking over Sora's shoulder, the look of pity growing deeper into his frown.

"Sora… just say it."

Sora let out a another deep sigh and tightened the grip around his brother's shoulders.

"Roxas, I… I want to see her again. I should deny it but… I…"

Roxas closed his eyes in patience.

"…I-I think I'm in love with her."

His older brother hitched a breath before he exhaled a softly.

"The… real thing?"

He felt Sora fist his hands tightly then a moment later, shake his head softly. Roxas smiled sadly.

The confession left Sora with a mixture of happiness and regret. His heart pounded against his ribs, his lips were dry, and his palms were beginning to sweat. He couldn't explain it, nor did he want to. Just finally being able sort out what he felt about Naminé, was enough. Just enough.

After a moment of silence, Sora lifted his head to face Roxas, a look of interest and mild confusion beneath his brown bangs. Roxas had already changed his expression to serious. Sora waited patiently.

Then, Roxas closed his eyes with a pained look on his face. When Sora was about to ask him what was wrong, the wind knocked out of his lungs.

His teeth automatically clenched together and his left hand flew up to clutch the back of his head. His eyes were blurry and shaking with dizziness. As he tried to lean on Roxas for support, the older brother stepped aside, letting him fall to the gravelled stones below.

Catching himself first on his knees, Sora clumsily threw out his right hand to support him before falling completely beneath it and crumpling in the pain of trying to stagger back up. He was almost back up on his knees again when his vision blurred out almost completely and the world around began to raise up and spin.

Before losing all consciousness, he took note of the two black trench coats that stood before him, and the blood on his hand after pulling it away from his head.

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And there goes another chapter! Hoozah, haha. I hope you enjoyed it! Even though it was pretty fast and easy to type, I was swarmed by a hundred mosquitoes the whole night through, so I'm suffering over fifteen bites because of this :O Well, other than that, there's nothing else to add about this chapter because no new information came up and situations were (I hope!) explanatory. If there are significant errors and spelling mistakes, let me now for revision, alright? So finally, after six long chapters, Sora fesses up. Awesome, huh? But like all good stories, an interruption-cliff hanger in the good parts really adds pep to the plot :)

Music inspiration goes to the terrific bands, Dead by April (Losing You, A Promise, Falling Behind) and RED (Canto III, Forever), and more of Carter Burwell.

And further inspiration goes to Cassandra Clare and her _Mortal Instruments Trilogy_. I'm totally hooked on the first book right now, _City of Bones_, and all my dark, sarcastic dialogue reminded me of hers. But it's not copyright.

Now, Chapter 7 is on the way and I hope you guys gear up for some family fun! Aren't those Org. XIII people the greatest? Haha, I hope you realize that's sarcasm! Because those guys really piss me off xD Lol, now I'm off to send another chapter of _Berry Bliss_ on the train. So stick around, my awesome readers :) Sora's not done with his family, or Naminé yet!


	7. Day 6

Not much to say here considering how long I've taken. My only guess is that if you've been reading my story so far you finally saying or thinking, "Omg, she takes long!" Lol, and I could not agree with you more. Well here's the revised (and much longer) new chapter of:

_Cold Taste: Day 6_

A/N: Thanks again for reading everyone! And in response to those who review, I thank you an extra bunch. Feedback is a lovely gift. I will reply to them privately as soon as I can!

Disclaimer: I do not Kingdom Hearts or any creations to vampire folklore blah blah blah…

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_There was an age, long before when the earth was hard and the topsoil so infertile, barely any vegetation sufficient for nutritional sustenance was scarce. Stone was weathered and cracked, splitting dirt apart and rising so high like towers they were the masters of their time. The clouds that circled the sky above were many reforming figures – some aggressively, others soft – that brushed the painted sky of a shade so grey, it seemed unhealthy. _

_That was how the earliest formation of vampires had known the world to be. _

_They rose from the proverbial caves of early human evolution – curious homo sapiens that ate and drank anything worth experimenting… even if it meant one another. Their lifestyle and decisions were so very dark, they pulled themselves away from other mammals and chose a life of isolation that dared only the strongest or most gullible of members in, whether by means of pride… or by force. _

_And in their times of dark feedings and rituals, they founded the start of a cult. _

_A powerful ruling upon themselves that set its own laws so advanced for such a time, no other animal could keep up with their development. They had already created rules, guidelines, and mantras of worship that would make only them gods in their own eyes…and with it all, came along punishments._

_They were a proud, arrogant, but smart kin of creatures. Anything disrespectful was to stain the blood they possessed and the strength they placed upon themselves. Ergo, the desire to keep what was sacred __and untainted, was to break the ones responsible then erase their problems immediately…_

_They were ruthless. _

_Bending their selves to the limits no animal would ever decide to place upon themselves. They carried rocks on their backs for strength – hours on end lifting and placing stones weighing by the tons on the bridge of their spines until their cords snapped and they fell wimp. Creating contests to find who the greatest puller in arm and leg strength were, tugging and straining until a competitor's limbs tore apart. Daring for speed – running for days non-stop until their feet literally ran into the ground. _

_And yet, it was not enough. _

_They wanted to prove to the creatures of their time that they were the better species, the better race, the greater clan of human that would rule the earth beneath their feet. And so they searched. They searched for better ways to become the greatest runner, greatest innovator, and most ruthless of predators that walked. _

_They wanted to be vicious. They looked to the canines. They captured dogs and wolves alike, plucking them of their fangs and claws – ripping out their own teeth and nails and replacing them __for the rest of their lives. _

_They wanted to see and__ not be seen. They looked to the felines, and by their capture, tore out their eyes – wonderful, glasslike orbs with fiery irises – and gouged their own, in an attempt to see better and entrance their prey with unblinking stares. _

_They wanted to hear things so acute, they didn't need to turn heads to find it, and move so surreptitiously through the darkness, their prey would never know. So, they looked __to the nocturnes. Dwelling deep into the black catacombs and stalactites of caves and mountain caverns, they captured bats. Thousands of bats, removing their ears and throat passages and trading them for their own. _

_A senseless blood fest..._

_And when it was done, thousands and thousands upon millennium after millennium, died in an effortless attempt to become any stronger. So, what was going wrong? Their kin surely believed that there were other ways… _

_---_

_413 B.C._

_---_

_And so, it was passed down that a legend once revealed the wise theories of a remarkable chief of the clan several centuries since the first of them arrived. _

_His name – Ralstruev Strigoi. _

'_Loving kin of mine own. Trials not be the gain alone… It hath be only mere effort and I believe the sand runs out on mine people. Act with me… let us make different efforts…become one.'_

_It was said he produced a cup made of copper so refined, that it had only been found during the times of the Minoans. Presenting it to the clan – some who stared through unseeing cat eyes while listening, and others who watched but could not hear through bat ears – he drained the blood of the three animals into it and as well, the blood of a human baby boy. The infant represented eternal life most precious to them, and Ralstruev believed it would save his dying people from extinction. Certain medicinal herbs and spices were also dropped into his cup, and the bark of an aging tree – his only solution to pain, death, and healing. _

_When the cup was half-full, he spoke unto the crowd again with cold eyes, though his loving voice defeated the gaze._

'_In half, needs two to make one. My children, once more become one… become oneself with this elixir. Shan't the pouring of these bloods mix with yours and lay you down to sleep…no. Let make this elixir awaken you. Awaken with strength, ruling, and power. So that you may be awake forevermore... so that all our children may survive into eternity.' _

_Following his speech with a few enchantments and spells by ancient black magic understood to their people for many centuries, he called upon one person._

_Some texts believe a story one way or the other. In one, Ralstruev brought up a sacrificial woman from the crowd – others say his own wife. But whoever she was, she rose to stand beside him, and after a loving exchange of surrendering and desire, he opened her throat with the wolf fangs he'd replaced with his own and cleaned the wound dry with his tongue. Then he went to rip out her chest and break the heart within. She was dead by the time he had finished. _

_And to the clan's wonderment, he gently tipped her head back and poured little of the mixed blood of the cup into her throat. Silence followed soon after. The dark liquid, almost brown-black in colour oozed into her wounds and drained within her as he watched. The clan waited in obedient silence. _

_Suddenly, her body shuddered and the wound began to close itself up slowly. Gasps emitted from the humans, they eyes wide with shock and other whispering in shock or questioning to what they could not see. Ralstruev remained silent the whole way through, but smiled proudly nonetheless. _

_As the woman lay breathing shakily and shivering his hold, he addressed the clan once more. _

'_Life returns within. A trinity bound by blood unto her own. Making a fine creature. She teaches us all t–! '_

_It is repeated that he never completed the sentence. The woman beneath him suddenly pulled with the strength of twenty men and brought his body down beside her. As she looked over the humans from where she lay over him, they shrieked and screamed in horror to the look she now possessed. _

_The only matured woman in the whole kinfolk who did not have her eyes gouged, her teeth pulled or her ears ripped – but was saved for the sacrifice – now looked upon them with amber eyes, baring fangs and claws, and a slight jumpiness to her body that made her very alert of the situation. Her chest was open, but her heart remained twisted – it did not heal like her throat and proved to stop beating. _

_The males and females alike stepped away in fear as she hissed and grunted in pain, titling her head in mock curiousness, teasing them for their weak bravery to speak up to her. With a smirk, she went down on Ralstruev's neck and drank him like a vampire bat. As he twitched and tried to restrain, the humans watched a little ways in worry as to what would happen to their chief._

_When she was done feeding, Ralstruev's body had looked frail and empty, his skin wrinkling in creases and his eyes wide open. Blue veins were apparent through his skin, like ink lines written on translucent paper. They pulled their heads down in shame and started to turn to break into runs before she got to them next._

'_Anon!'_

_They say the clan members looked up astonishingly as the chief lifted himself up and stood beside her. He smiled baring his new fangs, while spitting out the old wolf incisors he had used before._

_Not much is absolutely certain by fact what had truly happened during the ceremony, any such assumptions can be put-together. But one fact was certain – Ralstruev Strigoi did revive life into a human with supernatural powers, and he himself became one too. He was and created the world's first predatory creature. A beast with more strengths than possible to possess for one species. With traits that shouldn't be biologically connected for any human. And a right to live forever that was immorally unfair for any living creature. _

_But he was. And he was the strongest._

_Strange enough, though none of the texts or documents regarding that time can say, none have answered the question as to why Ralstruev was the only vampire of his clan to gain 'additional' supernatural powers over the others. There was a belief that he also had the ability to transform into a wolf. And a further one to explain that he lived on much long than his fellow kin up until his murder. Was it a curse placed on him by the wolf pack's seeking revenge for their millions of dead brethren? None can say. _

_But for every vampire descendant of Ralstruev that came __thereafter, all came to possess the same power, at a certain age and time. Their kin believed them to be the most powerful of all their clan. Only one in the family destined for it – and they called them, Strigoi. _

_How Strigoi's obtain their powers was later discovered and researched over centuries of knowledge. We know now how and why they become one... but that's documented in another article, for another time._

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"There. Does this still not satisfy you, Sora?"

"…Stop it."

"Shall I read it again, then?"

"No…stop it."

"It sounds like you need another seminar. I should go back and repeat it - !"

"Stop!"

" – for the third time."

"I said stop!!"

"The stories of our Origins… most enjoyable to hear many times o-!!"

The sound of wood snapped loudly, followed by the deafening clang of something hard hitting against steel. Sora threw the wooden leg of his bed through the small window with all the strength he could use.

"I told you to fucking _shut up_!!"

He meant to hit the speaker on the other side with the wooden leg but his aim was off and it only flew past. His interrogator stood patiently on the opposite side of the door, staring up towards Sora with a placid expression from a chair seated directly before the Strigoi.

This unresponsive reaction made Sora extremely aggravated. Growling angrily, he threw his hands into his hair and paced the small space impatiently. He spoke up again.

"Why…? Why?! Why can't you just…argh!"

Furiously wanting to have another tantrum but choosing against it, he dropped his hands from his head and rushed towards the door again. He threw a clenched fist into the bars that lined along the small window. His punch was so hard, he broke the skin open on his knuckles, and his bones shuddered dangerously beneath his layer of skin. The resulting vibration and deep hum of the bars pounded like a headache in his brain. His blood trickled over his hands.

"I shouldn't even be in here, for God's sake!!"

Looking towards the person sitting on the chair, Sora bared his fangs and clutched the bars in his fists staring out his space of seclusion. He panted heavily through his teeth out of impulse – no breath was inhaled or exhaled. He went to examine their figure.

Although the sound of breathing was heard, Sora could not tell if this person was anymore alive than himself. Whoever it was, concealed their body and face beneath the hood of a maroon-coloured cloak with sleeves so long, it covered their hands to the fingertips which were placed calmly on their lap. And with the shadow of his door so high, it denied any light whatsoever onto this person below. Their shape of chin, colour of skin, and expression of the mouth were but a mystery to him.

It made him all the more pissed.

"And who the _fuck_ are you?! Why do you keep retelling our Origins?! I'm the Strigoi of this family now! I've heard this legend. And I've memorised it over and over, so _stop_ repeating it. "

Upon this response the person beyond his door chuckled lightly, their head a gentle bobble.

"But I must. Is it not so intriguing? The wolves, the felines… the bats... All such beautiful creatures…… I think it is time to read this story again. So that you may remember how beautiful they really are…!"

"No! NO!! _Shut UP_!! Enough of this – this is - !"

Suddenly, the person sitting at the chair jumped up from their seat and rushed over to the barred window from which Sora was frustratingly yelling through. Lifting their hands up from beneath the long sleeves, the strange individual shot them through the old wooden square and cupped Sora's face. From the height of the window, the sleeves of the cloak slid down two slender arms, revealing pale creamy white skin, so soft and delicate on Sora's cheeks.

"Shh, shh, shh…."

A soft feminine voice more recognisable came from beneath cloak. Sora could still not see her face. He stood frozen and wide-eyed beneath her touch.

"W-who - ? N-no, _h-how_?! H-how are you - !"

"Shh, do not speak… They are approaching."

"W-what?"

Immediately following his words, a flash of white light blinded Sora's vision. And seconds after it happened, it was over. When he readjusted his focus on the woman holding his face again, he found the cloak around her body slipping to the floor. And before he could even comprehend it all, he found it was Naminé who stood across the barred window with her hands holding his face. She was naked.

Wide-eyed and uncomfortable, Sora pulled out of her hold and stepped back a couple steps. His pull in distance allowed him not to see her beyond the small window again. He wouldn't allow himself to see her like this.

"No… Naminé…"

Her voice though soft and gentle, echoed around his small enclosed space so loudly.

"Shh, my love…. They will arrive soon."

Despite himself, Sora looked frantically around the space.

"Who is?! W-where?"

When he looked back towards the door, Sora couldn't believe his eyes as he watched Naminé start to materialise through the wooden door. She walked with slow steps and poise like a cat. Her gaze was transfixed on him so deeply with the same lustful glaze he remembered running away from two nights ago. Sora shook his head wildly, his chocolate spikes thrashing around wildly.

"Naminé! Stop! What are you doing?!"

She ignored his questions and continued her walk towards him.

"Oh Sora…why do you hate remembering? It was all so good…"

As he continued shaking his head, he shut his eyes and backed himself into the farthest wall and tightened his fists against the ancient bricks that formed the small area. He clenched his teeth.

"R-remember what? …_What_?! Naminé, you have to - !"

Naminé was close enough to stop before him with a little less than a metre between them. In her trancelike state, she lifted her right hand in an attempt to touch his forehead. Seeing this, Sora shut his eyes and dropped himself to the floor, his knees bent up before him.

He sat in that position for a while, preparing for the unnerving touch of Naminé's fingers on his skin again.

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Sora was afraid.

For the first time in a long time, he felt tremendously uncomfortable and nothing but clutching his head between his hands made feel anymore safe.

He kept seeing images, repeats of memories he hoped to never relive, and now suddenly he couldn't block them out. They just seemed to crash one over the other in a terrible wave much too large for him to escape.

He remembered different things: running away from the manor at eleven, trying to run from his family, and again at fifteen, trying to outrun the sunrise that cracked his skin like dry concrete and made the tears run down his face.

Another one was to a time way farther back, when he was four, and locked in a cell in the basement. A barred, rusty window gave the room life as it ensured light and vision for Sora's hypersensitive nerves and hearing. He sat in a fetal position, staring blankly to the wall across him, counting the shadows of the windowed bars by the sunlight, over and over again.

Another at nine, where he spared with Roxas in the parlour room and shot a spike through this older brother's shoulder – all Roxas had said was, "_Blood's running. Hurry up and drink._"

One at seventeen, kneeling before Ansem near the fireplace with his eyes shut tight and a serious face, as he took the backlashes from Zexion's whip in punishment.

Another one at eighteen, when he had lead a sexy brunette in a teal-blue dress into a maintenance closet after their hot makeout session… and another at seven, when Riku put the head of a doe on his dinner plate and expected him to eat – he remembered crying, begging her for forgiveness, and pushing the plate away.

And things recently, involving Ansem, Axel, Riku, Kairi and Naminé….all so vivid.

All these images and more were like the slot pictures used in the old-time projector they kept from the late 1800's.

In his distress, Sora's body shuddered.

He felt the air around him plunge several degrees. The atmosphere seemed to tighten his chest, and his throat felt incredibly raw from the sudden cold. His stomach felt like it did when he jumped several metres in the air and the pull of gravity made it rush up into his ribcage. He couldn't feel it through his nervous system, but the familiar prickle and suffocation of the extremities made it real enough for him.

When Sora opened his eyes again, he found the sun had gone down already and the lights from moonbeams were pouring through a tiny upper window that winked through from a high ledge of one of the walls.

Through his exhalation, a puff of air emitted that appeared the colour of deep indigo. He assumed his vision was affected by the swirl of dark colours. As the wind picked up, the leaves in nearby trees outside were ripped from their branches, and flew into the space causing the brown spikes of his hair to sway violently.

In the silent chaos of it all, Sora did not know what to do. For once in his life, he didn't have an immediate answer.

And as a result, he brought his knees up to his chest and rested his chin stop the knees while he stared up into the barred window of the door. His brother must have come to check on him while he was running his subconscious turmoil.

He noticed in the moonlight, the glisten of fresh liquid coated on each bar. It made him tighten his bleeding hands ever harder.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Sora tried to block out the image. He was determined to drown out everything, and at the same time not fall asleep.

But no matter how much Sora tried to make himself an insomniac, he couldn't do it. And he found himself opening his eyes to another nightmarish reverie.

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"_You didn't see anything!! You understand?!" His grip tightens. _

"_Understand?!!"_

_She chokes back a sob. She can barely breathe. There is no space. No escape._

_(She was breaking…)_

_Dropping his hand, he turns around. With his back to her, she hears him sigh angrily…_

_(It was almost __**inhuman**__…)_

_With her hands still gripped to the tree behind her, she tries to push herself up. The action becomes pointless. She finds no strength left and her hunched shoulders pull down her weight. She begins to pant. Her eyes flicker frantically to every part of his body. _

_She can't speak. What can she say? There is nothing that can help. And she is afraid, horribly afraid. _

_The tears that trickle down her face can tell as much. _

_Suddenly, his broad shoulders tense and he stands up pole-straight from his previous hunched posture. She hears him draw a deep breath before he slowly turns to face her. _

_His eyes become sharp. They narrow in a murderous, predatorily way. The fire behind his stormy blue eyes intensifies as she observes. His lips are a tight line and he shows a neutral face. She can feel it._

_(His animalistic nature pulses back into him.)_

_She blinks nervously. He is suddenly directly in front of her, his eyes piercing and his body is so close, she can feel him up against her in slight movements. His cool breath runs down her face but she isn't shaken. She cautiously raises an arm from the tree to rest on her head… _

_(A familiarity… Her mind and energy were spinning.)_

_She feels him wrap an arm slowly around her waist, his hand stopping to rest on her hip. A heat runs up her chest from her stomach to her chest. It makes it difficult to breathe. With his other free hand, she feels as he places it gently behind her neck in a firm but soft hold. _

_(She gave in. She knew she was slipping.)_

_He easily arches her neck away to expose the tender skin that runs from her neck all the way to her collarbone and down her shoulder. In the moonlight sifting through the trees, he watches as the moonbeams dances tauntingly across her skin, so creamy and soft. _

_He bares his fangs ever so slightly and licks his tongue over his lips._

_Taking the only chance she can, she heaves a deep and shaky breath. Her chest rises against his. It is his muscles she feels that heats up her face; evidently her entire skin. His touch on her is somehow cooling all of a sudden. _

_(She knows he sensed it.)_

_Inhaling her scent, he becomes enchanted. He needs more of it. The strength of it seems to be coming from her exposed crook. He leans in, hovering over her skin, trying to locate her sweet spot. Ready to sink his teeth into._

_He stops._

"_One question."_

_Her voice is weak and sounds ready to break. His eyelids fall over his eyes midway. His bangs fall into his face. _

"…_Why?"_

_He listens. And something in the back of his mind suddenly awakens him. He slowly lifts his head away from her…_

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A strange sound entered his ears and Sora found himself pulling out of a deep sleep he thought he had fought to prevent. Mentally cursing himself for being weak both physically and psychologically, he strained his head to roll his eyes up to where he could hear it.

_Swish… Swivel…Swivel…Swish…_ There was even a sound like water droplets.

With ears like a bat, the sound had only started for about five seconds when Sora awoke to it, so whatever was creating it was scared out of its wits when his stealth like a cat crept up on it. Well, in Roxas' case, he was mildly shocked.

Sora lifted an eyebrow despite the great disdain written all over his face. He stood watching Roxas on the other side of the barred door, using one hand to hold a cloth up to cover his nose and mouth, while using the other to apply a wet cloth to the bars of Sora's door. He was wearing black leather gloves with strange rune designs stitched into it. He had stopped rubbing a bar on the far left momentarily when Sora surprised him but went back to focusing all his attention on dampening the iron rod.

Sora grew tired of the silence and drew a sigh. Before he realised what he had done, he was already backing up against the far wall of the cell with such speed the impact echoed a vibration throughout the room, no doubt the entire hall. His throat burned and a strong smell stung in his sinuses. As his eyes grew watery, he rubbed a hand to his face, almost letting out a sob which he quickly gasped back.

Roxas glanced up quickly to Sora before going back to squeezing out excess liquid onto the bar. Worry swam clearly in his blue eyes.

When Sora had regained composure, he stood up straight and looked at Roxas from his place, once the twenty-one year-old finally chose to speak to his younger brother. He didn't remove the cloth from his face as he spoke.

"Don't tell me you forget holy water when you see it."

Sora scratched the back of his head and tilted his head a little. A small smirk was played on his face.

"You know me. I love a challenge."

As Roxas chuckled softly to Sora's comment, Sora huffed a breath then went back to the cell's poor excuse for a bed and bent his head between his knees.

As he mulled over nothing in his head, he raked his left hand through his tangled chocolate locks while tightly fisting his other, softly puncturing his palm. It had been hours since he last clipped his nails, and they had grown long and sharp.

Blood dripped onto the concrete floor below him, and he watched it in great interest as it reminded him of things he had to remember, and things he was trying to forget all at the same time.

"You hungry?"

When Roxas finally spoke again, Sora pulled his head up in surprise nearly forgetting he was still there. Sora furrowed his eyebrows.

"Yeah… But it's alright. I'm not starving, I can hold out for a couple more days."

"Sora, don't say that. I can bring something down for you if you want."

Sora shook his head.

"No, don't. It's okay."

Roxas stopped rubbing the iron bar he was working on to look down into the cell to Sora's hunched figure. He made a face that expressed his curiosity.

"You sound so… conclusive when you say that. Did you…?"

Sora dropped his hand from his hair and stood up to walk over the barred window.

"No, I haven't. But believe me, I'm trying. I've been trying everyday."

Providing the only light in the cell, he judged by the angle of the rays that it was somewhere around late morning to early afternoon. He was tall, but through the window Sora couldn't see the level of the ground above when the cell was lowered to keep it out of reach. He pretended to go to touch the bars with his fingertips when Roxas sharp intake of breath told him not to.

Sora inwardly chuckled and pulled away.

"Don't worry. I already experimented with all the runes and enchantments in here. Ansem made sure no one could get out… Heh, that bastard."

As Sora turned to grin back in his brother's direction, Roxas looked away. His first instinct in usual moments like this when Sora got himself into a stupid situation that he made fun of, was to say a sarcastic comment and walk away from his brother. But he had to remember that this time, it was his fault he was in there in the first place. He felt ashamed, but not enough to walk away.

So he turned his head back to look at him, catching the identical blue eyes and locking them in a gaze as he spoke.

"Sorry about what I did. I overreacted."

Sora waved a hand dismissively and turned to look up into the sunlight. It warmed his skin.

"Don't be. It's alright. I still don't understand why you did it but-!"

"I did it because I was afraid you were doing something stupid."

Sora raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Don't I always?"

"Sora, I'm being serious here."

"Sorry. Could've fooled me."

"Do…do I really have to explain what I did? Sora, you were jeopardizing your chances at ever becoming a full-fledged _Strigoi_ as well as our family's tradition _and_ our entire species existence for one girl that you're just _having_ _fun_ with? If you were so sure you wanted her part of our circle, why didn't you compel and change her already? Oh that's right, because you're too busy seducing her and being a chicken not ready for a commitment so you don't want to get to third base yet."

"Whoa, whoa. Okay now chill, bro. I am ready for a commitment. Why do think I'm going through this initiation? I _want_ to take up the duties as the head vampire. It's a respectable career."

"It's a birthright, dumbass." Roxas chuckled to his immediate statement while Sora joined in.

"Yes, _birthright_… But come on, don't tell me that's all you're really concerned with me about. Can't you just tell me you went all Clint Eastwood on me because you're not even a little jealous of what I'm becoming for the family?"

Roxas dropped the cloth to the ground where it made a splash into the bucket below. He put his hands on his hips and shook his head, a smirk played out on his lips.

"You wish. Sora, I'm perfectly happy not being _Strigoi_, believe me. I'm happy with Kairi, I'm well-respected, and I get to watch you screw up responsibilities I'm glad I could never shame the family with if I didn't do them right."

"Hey!"

"Kidding. Plus, I _want_ you to be our _Strigoi_. I'm proud of being your brother and watching all of this opportunity unfold for you. You're worthy and well-deserved of it."

"Well then why am I here if I'm so _worthy_?"

Roxas didn't reply.

Sora, careful this time, drew a small breath, and exhaled a long deep sigh. He wasn't used to this emotional roller coaster he'd been riding for the past couple days. Taking one step forward, he looked at Roxas' face.

"Come on… Why are you letting them keep me here? We haven't used this type of punishment for years. Remember they said they wouldn't put us in here anymore? The last time I was here, I was eleven."

"Well, you're long due for a visit now. Enjoy it."

"Roxas, you know that's not what I want to hear to right now."

Roxas took the moment to bend down out of Sora's vision beyond the door to the floor and the sound of sloshing water was heard. When his figure was heard, the cloth he was using to wet the bars with was soggy and dripping wet. From the gloves he wore, there was little steam rising on where the water was making contact with the rune designs. Roxas tightened the cloth around his mouth a bit as he went to vigorously rubbing the next bar.

"Then, what? What do you want to hear? What do want to talk about? Where Naminé is? How much you've pissed the family off? What Ansem is conspiring right now as we speak? Because I can pretty damn guess what he wants to do w-!"

A loud crunching sound like splintering wood and twisting metal interrupted his rant as Sora wretched various parts apart of the bed he had been lying on. When he was done, he viciously went to bashing out a small hole into one of the brick walls that formed the room. Roxas stopped applying the holy water to stare dumbfounded.

"What the hell are you doing? You know those bricks are reinforced with decades of anti-vampirism runes and relics."

Sora kept stabbing at the wall with metal bed support and wooden legs in both hands, making strange progress at widening the hole in the wall.

"It's Naminé! Naminé! Why?! You can't keep me here. I _need_…!"

Roxas widened his eyes.

"I thought you said you didn't want to see her anymore."

Sora froze and whipped his head to his brother's direction. His eyes were wild and frantic.

"How did you even know I would say that if I'd never even - ! ...Well, it doesn't even matter. I'm an idiot. Just know that and deal with it, okay?"

Roxas decided it was time to stop doing his job and dropped his hand from the bars before partially removing the cloth from his face.

"I already know you're an idiot, and I _do_ deal with it. _Everyday_."

Sora took the opportunity to turn Roxas through the barred door and brandished his wood and metal tools like long swords. As he clenched his teeth, Roxas was surprised to note a quick change in amber flush his irises. Sora began to growl softly deep in his throat, but his eyes were still widened in mild fright.

"Well then, help me. You read a lot about old rune history. Tell me how to get the enchantments off of some of them. I can break through a couple with my stamina."

Roxas pouted in a bit of mock fashion – he was little annoyed with Sora's current disposition in regards to being a budding _Strigoi_ and he wasn't very convinced yet that his little brother knew the extent of his dangers already. As a responsible sibling, he had to see where Sora's loyalties laid in the face of determination.

Sora grunted.

"Ugh, why keep me here? What? I don't get it." He punched at the hole in the wall he had just made.

Before Roxas could even respond, Sora had already held his breath and was trying to pry the iron bars in the door which Roxas never soaked yet. A sizzling sound came as his flesh made brief contact with a wet one. Sora was too desperate to notice or care.

"Listen Roxas, please just get me outta here. You don't know how badly I can smell her right now! I've dreamt about her for a while now, and I don't see how keeping me here is making this any better for anyone!"

As Roxas watched his brother from beyond the door trying all attempts to get out, he frowned.

Was Sora really stupid or just courageously desperate? He wasn't sure if this was normal behaviour for a starving vampire lover. From experience and witnessing first-hand, he'd known most vampires to be calm and patient in this type of situation. When he went through a similar situation several months back with Kairi, he'd sat patiently for three days down here silently dreaming about her until he was let out. Axel and Riku, and even Ansem had told him, they went through the same type of composed behaviour. But Sora… well, Sora had always been a person all his own. But this was just too much.

As he pondered on it and watching his brother's pleading amber eyes, he wasn't sure what to make of the situation. Maybe they went about this all wrong. But he couldn't be too sure.

With a sigh, Roxas stepped away from the door and looked to see Sora slow his actions before stopping completely, giving him a hungry look of anticipation and hope. Roxas shook his head. It wasn't there.

"No. Sora, something's odd about you. I have t-!"

"No! Don't give me that bullshit, Roxas! Let me out!" Sora extended his arm out through the bars as far as he could and tried to swipe at Roxas' chest with his claws. His flesh was red and peeling with burns from the excess liquid on the wood but he let out a strangled yell as he couldn't reach.

Roxas took the moment to let in a quick breath and stared down at his younger brother with hard sympathy. Then, with a blinking acknowledgement, the door's padlock made a clicking sound and he turned on his heel and proceeded down the hall, never once looking back.

When Roxas heard the opening slam of the door behind him, and rushing steps of Sora's retreating boots muffle away, a small smile crept onto his face by the time he was going up the stairs.

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There you go, I made this chapter longer and I hope it satisfied you.

I know, I know! I promised this for immediately after the chapter – but I couldn't do it! I was so lazy to finish writing it until now. So I apologise to all my readers who were pissed that an update took this freaking long. I blame my own lack of motivation. But I hope that doesn't affect your view on the story itself. Well, I hope this makes up for lost time. The history of vampires – yes, I made it made-up :) So don't go looking for evidence to back it up, mkay? There are a lot of holes but I will clarify later. Thanks for reading everyone!


	8. Day 7

The eighth chapter of project:

_Cold Taste - Day 7_

_Disclaimer:_ All rights disclaimed, as you know.

Note: Sorry about the previous chapter being wishy-washy. It wasn't my best work under stress. Let's hope this makes up for the things it lacked. Aaannd thank you to everyone who sent me positive reviews in the many months I was gone :) I'd list you all by name but.. you know who you are, lol.

* * *

Afternoon eventually moved on with the nightfall. The morning followed and a new day had started, and just as quickly it was over.

As always, the eerily silence of the mansion hung like a forgotten lamplight in the dark. Its black, formidable outline and size painted the only canvas on the hill, overlooking the city and its only sources of light illuminated in soft oranges reflecting over the contour mounds. Had Sora been remotely sincere and focused before previous events had occurred, he might have mentioned how nothing in the mansion ran on electricity. Candle light and fireplaces. It was a wonder many of the children kept returning to such an old building structure with all the current modernity.

As it stood presently, the lot around the magnificent ancient was vacant and in desperate need of garden tendering. Weeds knarled and twisted like braids of lovers, the grass though weak and brown looked to be the work of a comb carelessly run through, and abandoned pottery with carcass remains of plants lone gone were dotted along the walls.

The alluring forest surrounding the home was the work of glamours built up by previous supernatural creatures, enchanting its mysteriousness with untold secrets and hideaways.

Sora had run through its environment hours ago.

And the windows of the mansion, blazing strong firelight through pushed apart curtains, gave the world full view of the inside and its shadow children, who were scurrying along the hallways in search of blood, sex, and alcohol.

It was a terrible place, but home to many nonetheless.

**_Within its Walls.._**

Ansem punched an inhuman fist into one of the walls of their mansion's foyer. The discharge of strength ripped the elegant Victorian wallpaper and allowed the plaster to crack and break through. As dust sprinkled onto the leather surface of his gloved knuckle, he drew in a breath. The fist remained in its place in the hole.

With a swift shot to Axel, he gritted his teeth, wild red eyes blazing.

"I can't believe I was not initially prepared."

Axel lifted an incredulous eyebrow. His arms were crossed and his body was turned to the window. He didn't reply.

Ansem heaved another breath and after a moment's pause, pulled his hand from the wall. He muttered darkly to himself.

"I should've realised… when the informant never turned up for our scheduled meeting."

Axel perked up at the sudden existence in new information. He regarded Ansem's distraught state with a calm exterior.

"It's understandable… considering that Sora's been primarily on our minds for the past days… You were more preoccupied with your personal informant on the boy instead, as I'm sure."

Ansem growled low in his throat, his vampiric nature rumbling beneath.

"Yes, but… he never returned. There's no doubt in my mind's eye that Sora figured it out and–"

"–killed him?"

Ansem turned his head away with a glare to the hole in the wall. Another thing to do on his already immeasurably long list.

"In simpler terms, again, yes… Ugh, I fail to understand that in the 600 years you've existed, how easily it was for you to let go of your formal conservational skills."

Axel shrugged though Ansem could not see it.

"Time's have changed. Been more leisurely. It is 'most pleasurable' to use relaxed English."

Ansem nodded curtly though he could care less.

"Irregardless. Now I have no way of knowing the external affairs that are taking place outside this family's connections. How are we to know if Cassel finally overthrew Vanille as _Nostradamus_? I cannot stand this delay, Axel! Remember his first course of action… who his first tar–!"

"Yes, Ansem. I know. This is why it is important that while we wait for another informant to arrive, we keep an eye on Sora…" Axel walked around Ansem to head into a nearby waiting room. The room was elegantly aged and did not look like a place that had been used in decades, but was polished clean nonetheless. As Axel walked, he shoved his hands into the pockets of his black trenchcoat. His eyebrows were a knit of worry. Ansem followed him in silent and gracefully with the coy all vampires carried. He growled again.

"No! I can't. Despite the quick efforts he has made in completing the first two tasks, he only has 8 days left. "

"More than half the allotted time you realise, dear uncle."

Ansem fumed impatiently.

"Yes, yes. But still! It is the matter of a woman in this case, Axel. Do you still not understand my distress? Especially when it concerns Sora's… vulgarity."

Axel sighed and moved over to an aging chair where he crossed his leg over the other. In clear frustration with the older man, Axel lifted a hand to squeeze the bridge of his eyes like always, not liking the formalities of this conversation anymore.

"I get it. Sora is a womanizer. Old news. But what can we do, Ansem? Huh? We're just going to have to wai–!"

Abruptly, Ansem turned on his heel on walked towards the west wall of the waiting room. Axel, with a raised eyebrow in concern, followed him quickly through it. As they materialised into the next room over, a study room much similar to the one they used for family meetings, Ansem headed over to the little Victorian desk in the corner and plucked an envelope from its crook between two books. In the fireplace's light, Axel whistled lowly as he watched the other man's beady gaze flit over the creamy aged paper.

"One step ahead of us already eh? Why do you even _bother_ to talk to me about dilemmas you already seem to have them figured out?" There was clear agitation running on his tongue.

"I've made a letter to the _Absolution_ Councillors in regards to Cassel's possible attack on our family. If all goes well, they'll give me the consent I want to spy on the boy's family and kill him if necessary."

Axel widened his electric green eyes. In the orange light, he noted the quick amber change in Ansem's eyes before they went blood red again.

"You're serious about this..."f

Ansem clutched the paper gently in his ungloved hand as he paced around the room. By this time, both he and Axel had gotten the attention of the present family members who were already in the room. Ansem flicked his gaze over to his young niece, long-blond and looking ever posh, but seething in her place on the love seat. He then looked over to his extensive brother-in-law whom silently flipped the pages of an old text, but was obviously ignoring its context for the conversation currently taking place. Both of them adorned the traditional black trenchcoats but wore modern clothes beneath, clearly ready to head out for a feeding soon, if not already done.

When Ansem was done staring into their faces, he turned his attention back to Axel and narrowed his eyes in staidness.

"Sora is a part of this family… no matter what I… _dislike_ about him. And he is also our new leader… I must protect that factor." Axel paused in response to Ansem's waiting eyes before nodding slowly.

"So… how will you make it all the way to Prague? This is a… very critical time, Ansem."

Ansem shook his head and headed back over to the table to grab a burning candle. With a small puff of frustrating breath, he closed the envelope with a seal of wax. His back remained to Axel but his voice carried in a taunt.

"Be careful, Axel. You're becoming more like me everyday. A brooding, cynical perfectionist of a man who constantly demands answers."

Axel smirked.

"Ah, but unlike you, I'm actually _liked_ for my personality."

Ansem turned his head slowly to give Axel a cold glare over his shoulder. When he was sure the wax was dry, he turned back around and walked over to Axel's form. Though Axel was incredibly tall, Ansem still beat him by some inches.

"I am sending a messenger no doubt."

Axel placed a hand on his hip. Ansem did not wait for a response, he turned to the south wall where his niece was fixated on the loveseat and called out to its barrier beyond.

"Hayner, I am ready."

In an instant, a male figure sifted through the wall in a trail of black smoke and blackened ash. Considerably shorter than both Axel and Ansem (and more so in the presence of Sora or Roxas), the young man of twenty-five strode up silently to Ansem's side and took the letter in his gloved hand. Axel never really had a sit-down with Hayner in the family and if he did, knew little of what to bring up.

Hayner was looked like a typical city-boy, despite the pale white skin that suggested to humans that he never stayed out in the sun too long. He wore black dress shoes, dress pants, and black muscle shirt beneath the trademark trench coat. A dog tag hung around his neck, shining strikingly in the fire's orange glow. His hair, wavy and dirty blond, was combed and gelled high on his head to give him the edge he had in his profile. His brown eyes watched Ansem and Axel in boredom.

"I can tell you two were having loads of fun before I arrived."

Ansem did not react but merely addressed him curtly.

"Just get the job done. And where is Tyler?"

Tucking the envelope safely into the inside pocket of his black trenchcoat, Hayner clicked his tongue thoughtfully.

"Pence? Oh, he… well, it doesn't matter."

Ansem eyed him suspiciously but said nothing. His task was more important to him at the moment. After a pause, Hayner brushed off his uncomfortable feeling and gave both taller men a mock salute. He winked when the twitch in Ansem's eye was clearly visible.

"Seth Hayner Solomon will deliver your message to Arcanus Tatum in Prague. I will return in 3 days."

Axel chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"Skip the fucked up joke, kid. And get outta here."

Hayner gave him a quick dark glare then turned without a word. Axel and Ansem watched as he instantly disappeared, leaving a black crow where his feet once stood. With a throaty screech, the bird flew out of the room and into the hallway where the beat of its wings dissipated. Axel blinked thoughtfully and turned back to face Ansem.

"Avis transformation? When did he–?"

"1837. In Moscow… he was… not that powerful… in comparison to the current Strigoi of our family. I'm surprised you were not aware of that."

Axel willed himself not to roll his eyes.

"Must've been back-packing through Europe around that time… didn't keep tabs on the family 411."

When Ansem regarded him with a raised eyebrow, Axel chuckled and stepped around the older man's shadow and headed to stand before the fireplace. He sighed softly to himself.

"Sora, Sora, Sora…"

Ansem decided by then that the conservation would take him no where important. As he turned to head back out into the hallway, his niece called out to him.

"Uncle…"

Ansem turned to watch her solemnly as she got up from her place on the furniture and head over to him. She flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulders, where it cascaded down past her waist. She eyed him with electric eyes, the same colour as Riku's. Her voice was thick with a Spanish accent.

"I think it is now time to let Samuel out of the cell now yes? Tonight is our anniversary."

"Ah, yes of course, Lucille. Come, let us go." As they turned to leave together, Ansem was suddenly hit with a thought and casually turned his head to Axel as he walked.

"Go check on Sora. Some time with his brother I fear may have made him soft again. Make sure he is… well." With that said, Ansem's form disappeared around the door, leaving Axel to give it some thought as he looked down into the eccentric patterns of the room's Persian carpet. His thoughts were momentarily cut when he heard a light chuckle come from the corner of the room.

Looking up quickly, he noted how the other family member in the room, who had yet to say anything since Axel first arrived, had discarded the book he was previously reading, and was now just lounging the way Lucille had just done. His copper brown hair wisped around his eyes.

"What's so funny?" Axel raised his eyebrow and gazed surreptitiously at the other vampire.

"Nothing mean, if that is what you imply with your tone. …I just find it ironic that our new Strigoi is being cooped up in the Dispell Chambers for …'misbehaviour'."

Axel chuckled then proceeded to head out of the door.

"I know… But what you can't expect less of Sora."

His tall figure stocked through the frame and in a moment was gone, leaving the other family member to snicker and pick up the book he had previously tossed aside.

_**Down into the Corridors..**_

_Second door on the left in the cellar, down the stairs, turn to the fissure in the stain glass crest, give the blood of the prisoner, and head down to the last wooden door…. Yeah, simple enough when you're new…_

Axel did not have worry about getting lost in the elaborate workings of this centuries-old house, but he couldn't help recite the directions to himself. Now not even making the effort to walk gracefully, he stomped his dark shoes along the cinderblock of the mansion's sub-basement.

He was frustrated, anxious, and flat-out stressed out. Despite his cool exterior for the benefit of the many maniacs in his family, he felt distraught like any person and couldn't deny how much this particular initiation process was putting him on edge. Why though? Axel had witnessed so many transitions over the decades and many more coronations. Sure there were some he witnessed that were exceptional and others that were… just plain terrible or self-deserving. As he thought in his journey descending down into the cellar, he subconsciously rubbed the vile containing Sora's blood.

Was it just Sora then? Was he just nervous for how Sora would able to uphold the family name? Axel knew that was an obvious root, but more was floating around. It was most likely because he remembered Sora as the little boy who couldn't wait to grow up and transition into the new Strigoi leader.

**_Flashback.._**

'_I have all these ideas, cousin!'_

'_Oh yeah, Sora?'_

'_Mm-hmm! But I don't just wish to be a strong ruler! I want to create rules, safe rules! Rules so that my family never gets hurt again, and so that we can live without fighting each other, you understand?'_

'_Heh, Sora? …We don't live at all.'_

'_Oh yeah… Heh, right.'_

_**Reality..**_

Axel sighed heavily as he approached the aging oak door behind the wine barrels. Grasping the iron handle, he smiled slightly.

"Oh boy, Sora… when did you become such a pain in the…? Roxas?"

As Axel pulled the door away, the shadow of the door left its cover over his cousin. Axel narrowed his eyes slightly as he noted the obvious tiredness in the young man's face. Dark circles, that were always prominent on all of them, appeared larger beneath Roxas' eyes. His lips were cracked and he looked pasty... and Axel was sure that just as he opened the door, a twisted smile had just fallen from the man's lips to hide that it had ever been there. He stepped to the side to let Roxas finish his clamber up the final steps, where he then noticed the pail of holy water he was carrying and slight sizzle in the runed gloves as he clutched the wet rag.

"You should take those off now… the protection's wearing off."

"Yeah…" Roxas' voice sounded torn and tired, and as he moved over to a nearby table to set the pail on, his shoulders hunched slightly. Axel leaned in the doorframe to talk to him for some minutes.

"You okay?"

After pulling the gloves off gingerly, Roxas rubbed his skin gently and gave Axel a reassuring smile over his shoulder.

"Yeah…yeah, I'm good. I know, I know. I look terrible. But don't worry… It's not Sora."

Axel crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side a little.

"I never said it was."

No reply.

Axel uncrossed his arms and walked over to Roxas by the table and leaned one hand on it and he gazed over his cousin's head to watch him pour the remaining holy water into a weathered stone basin.

"I was just going down there to check on him…. Is he doing okay?"

Roxas didn't turn to stare at Axel as he took out a vile from his pants pocket and raised it over the basin. He poured the baby's blood into the water and watched it, hypnotized by the cloud of red spreading throughout the clear liquid. When Axel didn't hear a sound for some time, he spoke again.

"Roxas…?"

"He's gone."

"…What do you mean 'gone'?"

"Last night… I… let him go."

Axel's eyebrows furrowed. He lifted a hand to the other man's shoulder. Suddenly fearing they'd be heard in the sub-basement, he dropped his voice to a murmur.

"You know what's going to happen they find out you let him go."

After a hesitant pause, Roxas finally lifted his head to look at Axel, his blue eyes searching the red-head's face, but not really looking for anything. His voice was a whisper.

"They won't. Not unless you keep my actions a secret."

Axel blinked slowly and gave Roxas a slight smile.

"You wouldn't tell me unless you already formulated a plan and expected me to be trustworthy."

Roxas returned the half-smile and nodded curtly.

"Of course."

Axel searched Roxas' eyes again before going serous again.

"So... why?"

Roxas leaned his head out the side and looked at different points around the room before looking back to Axel. After a pause, a gentle smile crept up to his face.

"'Cause when you're in love with someone, you'll say and do the craziest things just to get to them."

Axel's eyes widened slightly before he understood the gist of what Roxas was saying. He nodded then chuckled lightly.

"You are such a big-brother role model, heh… so, how much time are you giving him to find …whoever he's crushin' on?"

"Well, he's been gone since yesterday morning. I hoped one day would give him enough time."

Axel nodded, but showed doubt in his angular features.

"Okay… so, what? You expect him to mark her and come back?"

Roxas bit his dry lip and moved out of Axel's hold on his shoulder to wipe his eyes with the back of his hand.

"For now, anyway…. Sora knows that he can't _turn_ her. He can only mark her. So I'm just giving him that opportunity to get it done and come back here, and get everything in order. Hopefully."

Axel made a sound in the back of his throat that reflected how unsure he was.

"So… have you seen her at all? I know Sora, he won't go through all this shit for just… another floozy."

"Mm, no I haven't. But if she's driving him this crazy… more crazy than I've ever seen a vamp go in decades… then she _must_ be something."

Axel raised an eyebrow and smirked a bit.

"Even more so than Tidus and Céline?"

After some pause, Roxas nodded.

He then took the moment to test the holy water, now the colour of fruit-punch red, by dipping a bare finger into its content. When it didn't scald his skin, he knew it was neutralised and threw both hands into the basin to cup a handful of water. Axel watched as he poured it over his head and wiped it into his face. Its cooling sensation and taste of sweet blood caused Roxas eyes to turn amber and roll slightly back into his head. His fangs appeared. A mind spike went around to even Axel's nose.

Shaking his head from the mouth-watering feeling, Axel calmed his urges and focused on Roxas' idea of a plan. Sora was impulsive and moved to the beat of his own drum. Did Roxas realise how seriously messed up this decision was?

**_Party in the Parlour Room.._**

"Thanks for coming quickly, everyone. It is always good to know I can count on family in an instant."

Brooding family member Zexion flipped a curtain of hair out of his eyesight to glare impatiently at his younger cousin. He spoke in dark monotone.

"Roxas. What is it?"

Roxas had just finished re-buttoning his shirt all the way up to his neck and was now fastening the belt of his open trenchcoat around his waist. As the other family members saw him suit up, they knew something was up. Axel stood beside him, nonchalantly conscious of his unkempt, wrinkled and open clothes.

Roxas had called for an important family meeting in the large parlour room of the mansion the moment he and Axel left the cellar. In an instant, their family members materialised, flew, and walked in to address his call. Ansem was among them, and much like he, they all wore the same bored, irritated looks to the young man. Only Kairi was missing.

Taking a breath, Roxas ran a gloved hand through his spiked blonde hair and decided it was now go-time. Putting on an angry face, he pretended to grit his teeth in frustration.

"Sora got out. The bastard found a way out of the cell and A-walled."

In normal groups, everyone instantly went into hushed conversation, but with a vampiric family existing for centuries, and knowing each other for the same irritated and annoying fickles they always had, only silence followed.

Roxas expected it and raised his voice higher as a signal.

"He hasn't eaten anything in days and he might go on some type of damn frenzy."

Roxas got some recognition as a couple heads in the dark crowd, nodded reassuringly.

"So find him! You know what to do when you do… But remember, he's still got eight days to finish the process, so…"

Roxas didn't want to appear soft after ending his message in the way that he did. With a bashful flick of his wrist he sent them off and they departed.

Ansem walked up to Roxas with a glare on his face before he turned away to leave as well.

"No doubt _you_ play a part in this…." Roxas whipped his head to Ansem's retreating figure, but kept his mouth shut.

When the room only consisted of Axel and himself again, Roxas let out a frustrated groan and ran both his hands through his locks. Sora was now incredibly skilled at the level of power he was currently sitting at. Faster and physically stronger than any of the family members up to date. And if he was angry and hungry, it wasn't easy to think about how to restrain him when the time came. What Sora might do, Roxas was afraid of.

When the fall of a hand on his shoulder broke him out of his train of thought, Roxas found Axel nodding slowly. He spoke in a low voice, dreading what to expect in similarity.

"Come on, let's go find your brother."

Axel was the first to move a foot out to begin walking when Roxas grabbed his arm.

"Wait, Axel."

Said man turned his head and waited.

"…Let me see Kairi first before we leave."

Axel paused for a moment before nodding curtly. Roxas gave him a small smile then turned towards the far wall and disappeared into it.

**_Following A Lover's Lament.._**

_I'm sitting… across from you. **[1]**_

_I'm dreaming… of the things I do._

_I don't speak… you don't know me at all._

Naminé turned to the digital clock on the side table beside the loveseat. _1:03 am_. The bright red of its electric light was strikingly eerie to her in the darkness.

_For fear of what you might do…_

_I say nothing… but stare at you_

_And I'm dreaming… I'm tripping over you…_

Her stereo played softly in the background on her kitchen table. It crooned to her. Made the tension in her mind ease, and washed over her body like cool water. She welcomed it humbly.

The nineteen-year-old had come home from work in a silent heap. After immediate change of clothes and a snack, she fixated herself on the velvet blue couch in her living room with the lights off and some music to lull on. Wrapping the silk bed robe around her tightly, she heaved a breath and curled her legs under her. She whispered into the air.

"I can't believe I pushed myself to believe that a …a vampire could have killed my father. What a _fucked up_ idea."

Naminé flinched. She lifted a finger to wrap around a golden lock of hair.

"I shouldn't say that but…" She chuckled to herself. "…well, Mina was always planting thoughts like that in my head... I blame her… she has such a vampire fetish from reading all those romance novels. "

Changing her position on the couch, Naminé reached for a pillow beside her and curled around it. Her murmuring continued.

"Good thing I don't read any. I'd mix reality with the belief that my lover would be vampire like her and twist every situation to match."

The afterthought made her furrow the delicate eyebrows on her forehead. The thought of a lover probed an image in her mind and she couldn't bear the idea. Shaking her head frantically, blonde locks flying wildly into the air, she shut her eyes.

"He's not yours… you can't use him for your own fantasies."

But regardless of her self-scolding, Naminé couldn't help but dream scenario moments with him. Dirty little thoughts ran through mind like the wind and the more she kept thinking about it… the warmer she felt sitting on the loveseat. In an angry huff, she jumped from the couch and paced around her coffee table. She tied the robe's cloth belt around her waist in the process.

To use this man as a subject of her wet dreams was immoral and disrespectful, especially after believing that he might have been a supernatural and responsible for her father's death. He wasn't.

_But that's what he said…_

She fisted her hands at her sides as she walked. No, no he couldn't have said that. She was just having a manic day and changed his words around when he confronted her about it.

"Most likely he saw me on the news and was only coaxing me into reassurance… on a wall, in an alley."

She shook her head again and laughed weakly.

"Yeah… I-I can't believe I thought vampires were real for a moment… and hot. Heh, vampires aren't hot, they're…just…" She shuddered. "Ughh, I _really_ don't need this right now."

With a quick turn of the heel, she headed across her small living room to the glass screen door that was her balcony. Suddenly feeling hot and clammy, a wave of cool, night air was desperately needed. Naminé flipped her hair over her shoulder and with a confident click of the lock, she boldly pushed the curtains part-way and pulled the screen's handle away. A blast of refreshing drop in temperature enveloped her. She closed her eyes in bliss as she stepped through the opening.

Naminé was never afraid of welcoming the opening of her balcony on late nights. Living on the eleventh floor of an apartment, had its benefits with security. In this city however, she could never take precautions – even with minimal training in self-defence (to which she was thoroughly disappointed in spending money over), she'd hidden several baseball bats and long iron rods around her apartment just in case.

This night was safe nonetheless to her. She walked some bits forward and clutched the cool iron railing. The wind was strong and cold this high up. It sent her hair flying and with a breath of pleasure, she exhaled and her entire body went into ease. All thoughts of death, her brown haired love interest, and vampires flew from her mind.

…And then a weird sound caught her attention and her stress was back ten fold.

Naminé's body went rigid and with a break open of her eyes, her head snapped to her right, blonde locks still flying as she did so.

The sound transformed into a beat… a beat of wings being flapped in the air. It was almost abnormal, considering the volume it reached and she didn't even need to register what was in front of her to know that they were too big to be of the birds she'd seen in the parks and on nature channels.

Wide crystal blue eyes took in the image of a creature perched on her iron railing, hunched over on its legs as its long, leather black wings stretched out behind it in a slow flutter. The only things that seem to move about its figure were the wings, its hair, and the shirt it adorned. Naminé didn't have to look again to see a man replacing the image of a lanky bird in her mind. It made her heart leap into her throat.

Here was a man, hunching over his legs, which were bent into a crouched position to keep balance on the railing. His arms were on either side of him, holding him steady – she couldn't look away for a moment as she stared at his muscles, noticing how the biceps and triceps rippled down his limbs. Gazing to the rest of his profile, Naminé saw that he wore black dress shoes, black slacks, and a black short-sleeve button-down that was open at his chest. A chain with a crown charm hung from his neck, carelessly swinging in the wind.

When she landed on his face, she saw he was staring ahead into the glass of her screen door, his blue eyes shining electrically in the dark, and his spiky brown locks swaying atop his head.

Naminé gulped her pounding heart back into the pit of her stomach, where it allowed fear, confusion, and anger to fester quickly. Blinking slowly, she took a shaky step back from his silent, unmoving form at the end of the railing.

"So… you weren't lying," she whispered.

Sora turned his head slowly from where he was staring into the glass and onto Naminé's approaching form. He kept an unblinking gaze on her – tousled blonde hair, mid-leg nightgown, wrapped in a thin silk robe. His mouth went dry. The smell of her blood so near, it was putting his mind on edge.

Naminé stopped moving when it sounded like he wasn't going to say anything to her. Feeling incredible shy and ultimately scared, she sucked in breath. Locking an intense gaze with his eyes, she tried to look for any sign of communication with him. Emotion ran through her like a bullet.

With an unsteady breath, she stayed where she was and tried again. Her eyes stung with glistening tears and it felt as though bile was rising up her throat.

"D…do you…… want to come inside?" she said in a low voice.

Sora broke his gaze on her and blinked suddenly. Was she for real? Taking a confident leap, he folded his wings back into his body and stepped down quietly from the railing. He chuckled.

"You're about to invite something demonic into your home. You sure that's appropriate?" He said in a low voice to match hers, but with his male vibrato, it sounded much deeper. He smirked when he watched her shudder in her stand.

Naminé gulped again and looked from where she was staring at his chain back up to his face. Now as he stood before her, she had to crane her head up a little. His intensive blue gaze was piercing her to her soul and she couldn't find the right ground to stand on. It was getting too cold now.

"Well…" she started off slowly so as to not stutter. "…you're no doubt stronger than me… you… could have easily invaded it anyway… so I shouldn't restrain."

Sora glared suspiciously at her, though he felt an aching tug at his heart. Was she plotting something? She wasn't compelled to do something to him by another vampire was she? Leaning down slightly, he took a quick whiff of her body, purring softly in the back of his throat.

Naminé noticed his reaction and went pole-straight. Her mind kept replaying the image of this same man, bumping into him in the crowd and in the alleyways, recognisably normal and attractively mysterious. But here he was, carelessly unafraid to show her the other side of him and her mind still couldn't be more turned on. If it was unreal, he looked even more handsome in his true form.

Willing herself to calm her beating heart, she watched his eyes flit over her body in a methodically, calculating gaze. From what Mina had told her, and what she'd read about in folklore in her spare time, these creatures had heightened senses in smell, sight, hearing, and reflex. She noticed his irises flush amber yellow for a moment and was suddenly afraid again.

_These creatures…?_

She looked away.

A wave of immediate guilt washed over her and Naminé couldn't let it subside. She looked down over the balcony and tucked some hair behind her ear. Taking another hesitant step back, she turned her body around and headed for the opening back into her apartment.

"Come," she said quietly. "I'll… make up for the coffee that I made you lose."

With that said, her form went through the door. When no light came on, Sora blinked slowly. But he disregarded it, and followed her in cautiously.

**_In the Kitchen.._**

Her stereo continued to play, softly like a background lullaby in the dark. Naminé scurried over to her small kitchen pulled the curtains aside from the window over the sink to let to the moonlight from the night sky pour into the room. Bathing everything in a soft blue, she turned around slowly, watching as the man walked in through the arch and stand in place. He had his hand in his pocket, the other hung lazily at his side. After a quick look around, he set his eyes on her again and waited.

Naminé's skin felt hot and clammy again and she took the opportunity to spin around again and open the window to let air come in.

"H…have a seat" she said politely.

Sora obeyed. While he didn't say anything to maintain his air of nonchalant cool, he couldn't help but still feel uncomfortably awkward. Here was the woman he'd been lustrously yearning for days, expecting to do nothing with her when he initially came to her balcony – and if he did plan to do something with her, it was certainly not this – and instead the passion in their connection suddenly decided to fly away from him.

Were they just both afraid of what was transpiring between them now that she knew?

Were things more complicated? Of course they were!

Did… did she not feel the same way anymore and was only welcoming him out of fear?

Sora shook his head. He couldn't bear that. After Naminé, there was no other woman he knew he'd want for his task. How was he going to get her to a bed now when she knew his true identity and welcomed him in like she did?

This was taking too long. He ran a hand through his tangled spikes, glaring at the tabletop. Another reason why he fell for her – she was too damn good-hearted for her own good.

When he came out of his thoughts, he noticed she had placed a dark blue coffee cup in front of him. He looked up from where it sat to her form. Her back was to him, filling the electric kettle with tap water. He noted appreciatively the way her blonde hair fell down her back in cascades.

"How… do you like your coffee?"

Sora decided he needed to give her the recognition she deserved. With his uncanny speed, he rushed in a flourish of air directly behind her and reached his arm over to take the kettle from her hands. When Naminé noticed, she immediately dropped it into the sink with a loud _clank_ and spun around until she was facing him, chest-to-chest.

She heaved a shaky breath and looked up into his eyes. He regarded her with the same wide gaze but was quicker to recompose.

"No, it's alright… I don't want any." His voice was low but inviting, to Naminé's relief. She cautiously side-stepped out from between him and the kitchen sink and went to stand some ways from him. Eyeing him from a sideways glance, she rubbed her left arm self-consciously. From what she could tell, he looked almost normal – except for the eerie outline of his body in black-only clothes and the long, sharp fingernails she could see in the moon's light.

_No, Naminé… those are claws._

Naminé hitched a breath and quickly brought her eyes down in fear.

"Go on," Sora said sternly. "…Ask me anything. You know you're dying to."

Looking up quickly, she saw his face was staring at her over his shoulder. An untold emotion was swimming through his eyes and his mouth was a thin line that she couldn't read. He looked in pain for a moment, but she didn't really understand. Her eyebrows furrowed.

Naminé took a moment to take a deep breath.

"Your name."

"Circle of truth's non-existent without it, heh… …Sora."

Naminé's head jerked a bit.

_Sora…_

As she gazed upon him in the moonlight, her heart fluttered. The name suited him.

Seeing her gentle expression, Sora couldn't help but feel the tug of a smile.

"Come on, continue with the questions."

"Well… I'm Naminé."

Sora nodded but felt his insides squirm with energy for a moment.

_It's worth more… when she says it herself._

Naminé, despite her overwhelming feelings of finally having a conversation with the man of her attractions, eyed his claws on top her kitchen table and it put her back at unease. She looked to a point behind his head as she spoke.

"So…it's all true… the killings around the city… …you're doing it?" Her voice betrayed her chance at boldness.

His voice came firm and serious.

"Not just me." Not an answer she was looking for.

When she looked back to focus on his face again, she went stark cold. His eyes had turned amber gold.

Sora sighed with a frustrated air about him, rubbed the back of his hands into his eyes and left his place at the sink to stand directly in front of her again. He watched her freeze up again and heard the irregular beat of her heart speed up. At this point, he could care less about her need for personal space. She'd just invited him into her most private sanctuary. She wasn't given that luxury anymore. But he felt bad nonetheless.

"Naminé…" God, the sound of her name on his lips felt so good. "I'm not going to apologise for any of the things I've done, if that's what you're trying to implore I do."

Naminé blinked. She felt her eyes narrow despite the shiver running through her.

"But if it's true what you told me a couple of days ago… then… you show me the sympathy I deserve."

Sora was taken aback. He had nearly forgotten in all this tension – her father was dead because of him. Looking away, he brought his eyes to the floor.

"Alright, I'll…admit to that… …I'm sorry."

Her eyes widened to some degree. Naminé side-stepped again out of his stand and backed away until she was safely on the other side of the kitchen table. It was safely between them, but she'd forgotten in anger and sadness that he could easily break it in two.

"Th… that's it? You kill my father… and you give me condolence with that level of emotion?"

Sora lifted his head and turned his body around when he realised she was no longer in front of him, but across at the other end of the kitchen. Naminé glared daggers at him for the second time.

"What about the other families you've destroyed? Do you say you're sorry to them as well?"

Sora gritted his teeth. With his back to the window where the moonlight poured through, Naminé had no clear view of his fangs appearing. His haunting yellow eyes were prominently visible and he was glaring a similar dagger back at her. Sora scoffed.

"Those other… families were…"

"…What...W-what?"

"It doesn't matter… not when I think about how corrupted my own family is."

Naminé crossed her arms and took a shaky step back.

"Yeah, I can imagine." she said sarcastically. His cat eyes were sending her tremor to the bone.

Naminé bit her lip tightly but kept a gaze on him fixatedly. Giving another battered breath, she let go of her glare and stitched her eyebrows sadly atop her face. When Sora saw this change in emotion, his own glare let go, and he stared down upon her face in guilt. Naminé lifted a hand to her heart.

"I… I thought I could trust you… after you _saved_ me…" She shook her head, disbelieving her words.

"Please don't tell me I'm just another one of those girls you get a… a kink out of messing with… I couldn't… not after what I thought of you."

Sora was about to take a step forward, his mouth open ready to say something. Naminé saw the change in expression and waited. But he stopped himself and closed it shut. She brought her hand and her head down.

"You bastard…" She murmured, feeling her heart drop again and again.

Naminé bit her lip again, but she didn't wait for a response anymore. She came to her own conclusion that if he were to kill right now, so be it. He'd already shattered of dreams of meeting him and possibly going out on a date. And of course she was petrified – to hell, no doubt. He was a vampire, a supernatural nonetheless. She really fell for him and this is what he came up to… made her heart stop working. So she shut him out and sent him a penetrating glare. If she was going to die, at least try make him feel guilty about all that he's done with his life.

Sora flicked his eyes to the side and titled his head in a way that was unreadable. Then in a flash, he was in front of Naminé again, cutting the distance between them more than half.

When Naminé looked up into his face again, she noticed his elongated fangs, and a rise of his chest as he inhaled her scent – but she willed herself not to react. When he looked down upon her with wide unblinking eyes, she realised his heightened ears could pick up her heartbeat. She was about to take another step back and ask him to leave, when she saw that his eyes were suddenly returning to their electric blue.

_You look so fine… **[2]**_

Another song suddenly started playing on her stereo in the background. It changed the mood instantly. Her glare softened.

_I want to… break your heart…_

…_and give you mine._

"I can't really be sorry for what I've done…" His voice brought her back. She studied his face.

_You're taking me over…_

"I'm a vampire… What I do is instinctual. Whatever happens to them is only my concern when it helps me survive…" The confession made the ice crawl over her heart. What was she going to do? She couldn't reach her a weapon fast enough before he got to her. And she wasn't sure if garlic was just an urban myth. She looked away again.

"So, unless it's their blood type, toxicity, and age… I can't really give a damn."

_It's so insane…._

Her eyebrows furrowed. She placed a foot behind her, ready to back away again.

"Then… why haven't you killed me yet? In all the times we've encountered each other again… what's stopping you from ripping out my heart like everybody else?"

_You've got me… tethered and chained…_

_I hear your name…_

"Naminé… I want your heart." Sora's eyes looked down on hers intensively. Naminé froze up again, her heart beat hammering within her, ready to burst from her ribcage. She took the step back. With a shaky breath that threatened tears to fall, she closed her eyes.

"Like I said… what's stopping you? If you want it…"

Sora's nose was hit with the unbearable wave of salt water. His hands fisted at his side as he watched her shake her head, mumbling a bit, fighting an inner battle with herself. Then she stopped and slowly lifted a hand to where her hair was over her left shoulder and pulled it away. She leaned her head to the right and exposed her neck to him.

"…then just take it."

_And I'm falling over…_

Sora's blue eyes widened. He watched every tear slide down her cheek and down to her collarbone. Naminé heaved a breath and gritted her teeth.

_I'm not like all of the other girls…_

"Well, go ahead… You've already killed my only family… I don't really live a decent life… so go… just do it."

_I can't take it like the other girls…_

"You're the reason I'm so distraught. So go… Go!"

_I won't share it like the other girls…_

_That you used to know…_

Sora's eyebrows furrowed. She didn't get what he had meant. He watched with concern as her body shuddered and her coronary artery popped visibly from her neck, pulsing loudly with life fluid. A sob escaped her throat from immense fear.

"Sora, goddamn it! Just ki–!"

Naminé felt her body being roughly pushed into the wall behind her. A loud _bang_ emitted, and she was quickly aware of Sora's hands around her waist on her lower back. His face was pressed into the crook of her neck. She felt his lips on her skin, his hot breath, and the spikes of his hair poking into her cheek. She let out another sob, her eyes tightly shut.

_You look so fine…_

"I was never going to do it. Give yourself some credit… I'm in love with you, alright?" he murmured into her skin.

Naminé's eyes snapped open. Suddenly the feeling of being scared left her. Her voice came out a whisper.

"W…I don't…"

Sora lifted his eyes from her neck and came face-to-face with her, his blue irises flitting to many different parts of her face.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush about it. I… really am in…"

Sora paused as he watched her wide-eyed soundless form. He continued regardless.

"And as part of …family initiation… I'm bringing you back to my family." As cold as it sounded, it needed to be said.

Naminé did not hear the gist of what he said after the confession. His lips were a blur and his voice was a murmur in her ears. Did he really…?

With a brave breath, she lifted her arms to hold his face in her hands. Sora ceased all speech and waited as she felt his face with her fingertips. His mouth was a thin line but his eyelids went down in pleasure. Naminé took in the details of his face with active eyes. Releasing one hand from his face, she dropped it onto his shoulder and rubbed the material of his shirt. She spoke in whispers.

"You're not…compelling me or anything to believe this are you?" Her eyes looked away in shame, half-lidded in disappointment. Sora opened his eyes and shook his head. She saw through peripheral vision and nodded solemnly.

"So what? You... killed my father, just so you could have me all to yourself?"

"No… he was just a stranger to me… A man I picked up for my… …Naminé, I'm… sorry. Truly." Sora furrowed his eyebrows, his voice was a little over desperate.

"You didn't deserve what I did. No one does… but I can't make redemption. I'm not allowed to in this nature… Just… just trust when I say I don't love you out of pity. Well, I kind of do, but no! Not like that, you are… you are…and I…"

Naminé lifted her gaze back to him, pleading with a silent mouth and loud eyes for him to continue. He broke the eye contact guiltily.

With eyes narrowing, he cocked his head to the side and tightened his hold on her waist.

"My business is mine. But–!"

"How long have you been like this?"

Sora blinked. Her attempt at questioning was random… but understandable. Of course, she didn't need to hear this story about her dad all over again. He held a solid face.

"Centuries."

"And yet, you carry the ignoramus arrogance of any modern city boy these days."

He smirked.

"Guilty."

"What about your family?"

"Millenniums… but trust me, they're way more cocky than me."

"How are you able to walk in the sunlight?"

"That whole myth about how we burn in the sunlight is bullshit. True it's harmful, but once you turn 16, the body adjusts."

"And garlic?"

"Crap."

"Wooden stakes?"

"…"

Naminé lifted an eyebrow and weakly smirked herself.

"Okay… and mirrored reflections?"

"That's fake. Of course we're seen."

"…So …wings?"

"Everyone's got them. But we don't bring them out much."

"Why not?"

"Have you seen the size? It's a mess-starter. Besides, I prefer to run. I get to places faster."

"And… can you… you know… with the eyes?"

"Yes… yes, I can." Naminé gulped. She had to be careful not to say anything provocative around him that would tempt him to compel her. Sora noted her shiver and let out a little chuckle. Naminé tilted her head to the side.

"You take breaths, but you don't take in oxygen….?"

Sora smiled, showing his fangs still visible. His claws playfully grazed her backside.

"As long as we get our right in take of blood, we can function like regular humans. Only exceptions are that we can't sleep, blood doesn't travel throughout the system hence the pale exteriors, and… these." He lifted a hand to her face, and softly ran the back of his claws down her cheeks. Naminé closed her eyes in fear, but stayed the same nonetheless. She dropped her hands from his face.

"There's more…"

Sora's stopped mid-way down her face and gave her a curious look.

"Hm?"

"I know it… I know there's more… something you're not telling me."

Sora pondered on it for a moment then gave her a small smile to which she didn't see.

"Oh right… we can walk through walls, transform into animals, and aren't allowed into homes unless asked by the owners…. Heh, that's explains why we haven't sucked the whole human population dry… you have _some_ protection."

Naminé shook her head and opened her eyes again to stare back at him.

"No, not that… there's something about you… you personally… that you aren't telling me… I sense it."

Sora froze. He looked into Naminé's crystal blue eyes. What was it about her that suddenly made him spill his guts? First rule of being a vampire: when seducing a victim, you don't tell them anything – not unless you're planning to mark and change them, _then_ do you tell them. He hadn't even laid a hand on Naminé and she knew almost everything about their race. He could easily erase her mind… but he knew he couldn't.

After some time, he dropped his hand from her face and heaved a deep sigh. He growled softly in the back of his throat.

"Sora…" she said accusingly. His name on her lips was enough to make him shiver.

"…Please."

Her smell was intoxicating. Her body radiated warmth he was incapable of making. Her beauty and sex were just calling out to him from beneath the thin layers of her sleepwear.

Closing his eyes, Sora leaned his head atop hers, relishing in the feeling of her warm skin and their bangs mixing together.

"Not now, it's… not important."

Naminé made a sound in the back of her throat, not a growl, but like a mewl of disappointment. She listened anyway.

"So… why me?" She whispered. Sora shook his head against hers.

"I …don't know. I just …don't know what makes you…"

Naminé leaned her head up a little to signal Sora to stop moving. He stopped shaking his head and opened his eyes. He looked down upon her eyes. Their noses touched, eyes were centimetres away.

"That's not a good enough answer." She boldly whispered.

Sora licked his dry lips and grinned softly, eyes twinkling with mischievous shine.

Naminé let out battered breath.

"Can… can you hear my heartbeat?"

Sora nodded against her head, never taking his eyes away from her own. Naminé opened her mouth.

"Will I be safe with you?"

Sora stared deeply.

"You're nervous…"

She bit her lip tightly.

"…and I like it."

The comment put her on edge.

Suddenly Naminé felt a coppery taste on her lips and after drawing her tongue across them, she realised she'd bitten too hard and broke the skin. Widening her eyes, she felt Sora's body go rigid and watched as his eyes flicker amber for some moments. She sucked in a breath.

"Ar…are you going to…?"

Sora shut his eyes and shook his head vigorously against hers again.

"No… no, I'm trying not to… It's okay…I can…"

However when he opened his eyes again, Naminé noted the flicker still occurring and his breath in shudders. The smell hit him like nothing before. She was closer to him than she'd ever been, and her blood was out in the open – of course the smell was unbearable. He opened his mouth to some degree but gulped down a wave of saliva when it came. He didn't want to break his hold on her, but he couldn't stand it.

And just when he was about to back away, her hands flew into his hair and she regarded him with wide, serious eyes.

"No…"

After a moment of hesitance, she ran one of her hands to the back of his head, and the other down to hold his face again. And willingly, she pulled his head down until his lips came into contact her own, where the velvety texture of blood mingled.

_You're taking me over…_

Sora froze for some seconds, afraid and caught off-guard. Then in a heated wave, he meekly accepted it and hungrily drank her in while she allowed the sensation to fascinate and arouse her.

_Over and over…_

When Sora had his fill, he quickly went for her entire mouth, exploring her with his tongue and allowing himself to raise his arms up her backside. Naminé did the same, gently wetting the sides of his fangs in curiosity before going forcefully for his tongue. She grabbed fistfuls of his hair with her one hand and dragged the other from his face down to his shoulder.

_I'm falling over…_

A low rumble of pleasure erupted in the back of his throat, the mixture of a purr and a growl as he pushed her more into the wall, until he was sure their bodies would meld.

_Over and over…_

She leaned both their heads up in the kiss until he released her, giving herself a moment to catch a breath before going back for more. Her skin was hot, and beginning to perspire. But it made the event all the more exciting.

_You're taking me over…_

They moved across the kitchen together and without breaking contact, Naminé lead him to the bedroom.

_Over and over…_

They fell onto the bed, the open window comforting their heated bodies. Sora leaned up over her as the kiss continued. His claws were gone deep inside the comforter on either side of her and then they flew to her belt, untying it frantically. Naminé clutched his shirt tightly and made a sound of pleasure in the back of her throat.

_I'm falling over…_

His fangs grazed her neck in the gentlest way... she heaved a deep sigh …his hands gently rose up her gown …clothes were eventually discarded... panting continued… hands ran through brown and blonde locks… bare backs were run gently over with fingernails… sweat made it sticky but erotic…hands were intertwined…

_Over and over…_

The night seemed to last forever.

* * *

'Tis done! I know what you're all thinking: either 'Finally!' or 'Oh shit, what's going to happen next?' Well, if all goes well with my studies this week, I'll work on it for next week. I'm really starting to get back into the story after working on this chapter. I implore you to listen to **[1]**'I See You' by artist, Mika, and **[2]**'You look So Fine' by other artist, Garbage. They were the backbone for emotion during Sora and Namine's scene and if you really want to feel where I am coming from with _Cold Taste_, then I am begging you to have a listen! Lol, seriously. Well... nuff said. After losing 12 hours of sleep for the past two nights to edit this gargantuous monster, I'm out BUT I leave with one regard:

_Thanks for reading everybody! And I hope to hear feedback from you. The more questions and comments, the better. Peace! :)_


	9. Day 8

You better be damn happy I updated this lol!

Thank youuuuu to everyone who sent me positive reviews in the many months (years) I was gone! This is why I love the fanfiction community. We're like a village haha. Ah, the next chapter in:

_Cold Taste - Day 8_

_Disclaimer:_ All rights disclaimed to Disney and Tetsuya Nomura, as you know.

Note: WTF. I'm still alive!? Haha, well ...actually I _wasn't_. I had almost completely forgotten about this story (I is incredibly sorry!) but many of you die-hard fans (to which I am eternally grateful and in love with) nagged, pestered, and reminded me that I needed to continue this. Those studies I promised to pass before I would work on this again, well... they turned into completing high school, finishing two years of university, and a whole other shit load of things before I was rejuvenated with creativity again! Can you believe this madness? Haha. So I apologize to you all now if the style is not up to speed as it was in 2010 and if the story is lacking somewhat.

I need to get back into it. Whew! ...Gosh, when the last time I played Kingdom Hearts?

Enjoy! I am forever shocked by the fact that FF won't let me use both **!** and **?** in one combination. Grr.

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There was a war going on inside Naminé's heart. A kind of deep battle that was testing her humanity and allowing her very little time to justify herself or feel guilt for her actions.

She could not believe it as her heart pumped wildly under the moist perspiration of her chest.

Her first time, first experience, and she'd spent the night with, of all men … a vampire.

She... had _sex_ _with a supernatural being._

The proof was in the stillness of his body beside her, the chill she felt on his skin (even though their naked bodies were still melded together) and the …dried blood that stuck to her back in dark scabs that Sora seemed to gently fascinate in.

It was an unnatural feeling but it was there, the feeling of terror and comfort all cyclonic into one perfect balance of wonder.

Naminé felt it in the way Sora said nothing and did nothing as stroked her blonde tresses and looked to the ceiling in deep thought - probably contemplating the same kind of surprise she felt as to where they would go from here.

She stared down onto the contours of his muscled abdomen, marvelling in how the muscles under his sun-kissed skin rippled elegantly down toward his sculpted lower half. They weren't under the covers because they had collapsed in the frenzy of the night, and she had a perfect view of everything he had and had given her.

She felt slightly embarrassed now that the room was bright with the oncoming sun. What did he think of her body now that they had rested? She wasn't the curviest of girls and she was pale and skinny.

A frown developed on her face when Sora shifted in his place beside her, as he went to scoop his large hand around her waist to spoon her from behind. Maybe he didn't mind…?

Naminé looked around her bedroom still unconvinced. Now that the night of passion was over, the guilt and terror was beginning to show. She realised she didn't know anything still about Sora other than the vampire trivia ...he mentioned living for centuries and a family worse than him that lived in Florence for a while. Was Sora even his _real_ name?

_I'm so stupid! I'm just like those girls in those damn books Mina reads._

She gazed away from him. She missed how the silver chain around his neck shifted against his toned chest as he frowned in deep thought. When she'd looked away, he looked as she felt: reawakened shock. And it made her more afraid. Biting her lip, she was eerily conscious of the dried blood on her back. The thoughts had to be pushed away.

.

'_So… why me?' Sora shook his head against hers._

'_I …don't know. I just …don't know what makes you…'_

_._

Sora had stayed with her till morning, even though he didn't require sleep.

She had to find solace in that.

Naminé tried to relax as he felt him move. What was he going to do? What was _she_going to do? Nothing would be the same after this.

But while a rush of comforted pleasure came when his knuckles brushed the underskin of her breast, an equally painful hiss came through her teeth as he also grazed a long scratch he'd made on her back.

"_Mi dispiace._"

Naminé blinked and lifted her head a little to stare at him.

His electric blue eyes were gorgeous and unsettling like a beautiful painting depicting a dark story.

"I'm sorry?"

Her brows furrowed slightly together. Sora flickered his eyes to hers and a smirk split onto his face.

"I didn't know you spoke Italian too," he mused as his fingers went to stroking her hip. She shivered but shook her head in confusion.

He chuckled and his smirk transformed into a smile for her.

"I said 'I'm sorry' for the... you know," and he gestured to the long graze still red on her back. "It'll heal in an hour with my saliva."

Naminé blinked, still trying to process what he'd just said; on top of everything he had confessed to her last night, it was almost incomprehensible.

At first when Sora turned her on her knees and began running his tongue along her backside, she'd thought it was some sensual act in the heat of the night and she'd begged for more. But when they'd stopped to rest and she'd laid back, her skin erupted with a deep, sharp pain and Sora spent a few minutes apologizing for his nails and explaining the healing attributes in his saliva before they were at it again. She'd been too excited to have the man of her affections in her bed to really think about it.

Until now.

She raised her eyebrows.

"You speak Italian?"

Sora kept his gaze on her for a moment longer before looking back up to the ceiling, his pupils shrinking and his irises flickering yellow in the oncoming sunlight.

"My family lived in Florence in the 1700s so even after we left, we stuck to it for a while."

He rubbed his eye with the back of his hand before continuing.

"I also know Bulgarian and French. My Latin could be better but I've always hated it since Ans-"

"Say something to me,"

She gave him a shy smile. Sora looked at her with a delicate expression, watching the way her eyes flitted across his face and the tilt of her head. He licked his dry lips when the exposed area of her neck appeared and her blonde hair fell over her other shoulder. He mentally praised himself for not losing control at one point ever in the night because every chance he got it was so tempting.

She had screamed his name, he smelled her skin, her blood ran right beneath his touch, and they would kiss …but he had never _once_ lost control of his fangs coming out.

_They don't call me the strongest Strigoi for knowing._

Sora gave her a half smile.

"Non riesco a trovare i miei calzini."

He watched as her breath hitched in her throat and the sound of her heartbeat increasing. Who knew something so simple could turn them both on?

"A-and that means?"

Her blue eyes went wide as she felt herself lean into him. His hold tightened on her hip possessively as he sat up to meet her halfway. With his lips to her ear, he whispered in hair.

"I can't find my socks."

And he grinned when she scoffed and pushed his chest away with a chuckle.

"It sounded better in Italian, Sora."

The sound of his voice on her tongue again was foreign and wonderful.

Naminé shook her head. He laughed softly and moved away from her to lie back down. Sora looked out the window.

_It's the eighth day..._

Something about the way the brightening sky chilled his insides. Was something going to happen?

Vampires were gifted with that sense of heightened intuition. It explained why they were the most difficult predators to chase and track down - they always seemed to psychically know one step ahead if something was coming, even if they didn't get a clear understanding it. When he turned to head to Naminé's and watched as she gingerly started to pull her naked body of her bed, the feeling grew stronger.

He bit the inside of his cheek and felt his fangs poke him lightly.

"Naminé?"

He watched as her back bent down as she retrieved her nightgown on the floor. He felt a sick feeling in his stomach as he saw the deep cut still healing over across her otherwise flawless back. He silently hoped she wouldn't scar after that because of him.

She turned back to him with a small smile. Her crystal blue eyes were clear and sharp, in no way affected by any kind of compulsion on his part.

"Hm?"

"I..." he started to stay but the words were stuck on his tongue. He grew distracted by both the raw beauty of her body after a night with him and the dark red that speckled her pale skin; it was a reminder of who he really, truly was.

Suddenly images of the past week came rushing into his mind.

_His family's shadowed by the outline of the fireplace... _

_A middle-aged man begging to let go as Sora sank his teeth into his neck... _

_Naminé's lustrous gaze as she stalked him down the street unwillingly..._

_His rage as he sat on the rooftop in the rain..._

_The story of the Strigoi..._

Sora shook his head and sat up quickly. Naminé noted the change in his demeanour and scurried around the bed to sit in front of him. She hadn't found her underwear among the piles of their discarded clothes but decided, since it was her apartment and Sora was the one who ripped it off her, it didn't really matter this point. She was going to shower anyway.

"Sora, what is it?"

"Uh...I just, uhm..."

Sighing heavily for the effect, he reached for her hand and brought her closer.

"Let's …go somewhere for a second."

Naminé raised an eyebrow and felt like there was an episode of déjà vu.

"Will I be safe?"

Sora looked down to the floor then snapped his head up when he realised the apparent nervous tone in her voice. She asked one question, but bordered on the words of another: 'Will you still be there?'

Did she really think he was going to hurt or leave just like that after what they'd shared, after what he'd been through to get through to her? Maybe she thought he was just another douche who slept with a chick and bailed.

_Well, she doesn't know exactly WHAT you went through, dumbass_.

The thought made his expression soften; he'd tell her everything, _everything_, if she could sit through it and try to understand.

Sora smiled fully and genuinely for the first time all morning. He nodded and rubbed her knuckles with a clawed thumb.

"Yeah."

...

..

.

When the sun hits the ridge of the horizon just right, there is a flash of perfect white light that shimmers in the vampire irises and reflects back against the sky. They call it their _mortal's pure light_, a brief flicker where they are the humans they once were and what they once retained before turning.

Innocence.

A serene soul.

Incorruption.

It is not something many of the vampires choose to speak about because they pride themselves on their roles of leaving behind such fragile human life; they scoff and turn their nose up at mortality, acting as if the blood of a predator running through their veins is something to be grateful for... but they all secretly think it. What it would have been like to live so short, to harbour such a calm in their soul for a mere one hundred years than to never feel it at all for an eternity?

So when the sky is perfect and the sunrise is bright, families and individuals alike wait for that perfect moment, when that white light breathes into their spirit and they feel something they have almost forgotten: peace.

Vampires are not given that. In their hearts, lives a dark entity that clouds their perception of the world and life around them. They are forever tainted, inwardly conflicted, and always at war within themselves.

In Sora's heart, there was always calamity going on between his instincts and his morality.

He had rarely grown to question it, as he grew older, ageing only every couple decades when the stress of his conscious weighing his mind down. He could go years without feeling any kind of remorse for the actions he did, turning it off like a person would switch off a light, and just as well, switch it back on when he felt the need to. His relatives were more in-tune with their natural ability to do it than he was. It was just lucky for him, that they cared enough about him to not abandon him unlike what they'd done so to his father.

.

_1756, Algeria_

_"Daniel...Nathan... I can't stay."_

_"W-Why, father? Where are y-!"_

_"Your mother will look after you. You cannot find me, after this has come to pass. Understand?"_

_"Father, w-we cannot remain like this. Larxene ...she told me there is a safe haven in Mayfair. Y-You can go there and-!"_

_"No, Daniel I-! ...I have no choice."_

_"..."_

_"Father, no!" And a terrible sobbing started as the much older man reached down to hug his three-year old son._

_"Daniel ...look after your little brother. He will need you more than ever. You will both need each other."_

_"I understand."_

_"I may not have the strength to ...to live like this, but you two can. If you just lean on one another, you can do what I could not. Survive."_

_._

Sora shut his eyes and tried to shove the words away. It was like staring into a very old photograph, where the colour was washed out and the edges were cracked, but the image inside was still hauntingly familiar. He couldn't believe that he had been able to remember.

After that, his father never returned and Ansem gave Sora and Roxas a rather cruel upbringing.

They were constantly reminded that it was for the good for the family, to be able to withstand any sorts of pain and drama so that they may endure the tortures of immortality and passing of time.

He learned to run without regret, kill without remorse, and push people away as if they were nothing but pawns for a sick game he eternally played.

Roxas seemed to handle it better than he did, not in the sense that he enjoyed it, but in that he was mature beyond his age to understand that accepting the problem was easier for him and his brother than rejecting it. And Sora was forever grateful for that, especially since he was the softer of the two.

Sora didn't know why, but he knew he just had a more innate sense of justice that he could not challenge.

When Ansem yelled, he retorted back.

When Axel pondered, Sora would shower with questions.

And when Roxas finalized on a decision, his little brother tried to find loopholes.

Nothing was as black and white as the family had wanted, and Sora lived it in the grey. He could play the bad boy, oh yes, doing it better than most just to survive and earn respect. But that didn't mean he always able to turn off the guilt.

If Sora was honest with himself, the guilt was always there even when he smirked or ignored other people's problems. He just couldn't shake it.

.

_'And that's why you'll make a better leader than Ansem, Sora,' Roxas would constantly say since the day when they were told that the Strigoi responsibilities would be passed onto him._

_'Because I'm soft and he's always so grumpy?'_

_Roxas would grin._

_._

"We never hated our father for his absence. If anything, I appreciate his decision. I doubt I would respect him less if he _had_ been the one to grow us up in such a..."

Sora stopped for a moment when a particularly warm breeze rushed into his face and made the world still. He squinted into the increasingly orange sky relishing in the feeling. Naminé stared into his face, with her bottom lip beneath her teeth. She said nothing.

She tried not to focus on how far the ground was from their height.

She was still surprised that she'd managed to put on her jeans so fast and gone up to the apartment roof with him so she could 'watch the sunrise in his eyes' as he stated. It sounded cheesy, but Naminé didn't want to judge. If Sora wanted to share something with her, then who was she to refuse a vampire? But she guessed if she had wanted she could have had a choice since he said he was in love with her.

_As abrupt and passionate as he was._

"I haven't talked about him in years." He shrugged. "Haven't _thought_ about him in years. Is that ...wrong?"

Naminé wondered if he was really asking her and decided to come up with an answer as he paused to stare down at the buildings. She wasn't sure how'd they gotten to that point in the conversation but somewhere along her mumbling about planning her father's funeral …Sora began to open up.

She didn't think he ever would and so felt humbled and a little afraid by his change in demeanour.

What she had feared would be a love only fuelled by sexual tension, had somehow over the night transformed into a _thing_ where Sora found himself capable of leaning against her feeling comfortable enough to share his most uncomfortable thoughts.

_But am I ready for that?_

Naminé looked back to the sky.

"Your first name's …Nathaniel."

Sora squinted his eyes.

"I pour my heart out to you and the only thing that resonates with you is my name?"

She shrugged.

"It's a nice name."

"I don't use it."

She shifted in her seat beside him and clasped her hands in her lap. It looked like she would have to call in sick for work. Again.

"Your father sounded very noble. Sometimes parents have to make cruel decisions to perform selfless acts. I know my father worked hard to make up for my mother not being around but …he said what she did in the time she was alive _counts_ for the time she missed with me."

Naminé shook her head.

"Sorry, I'm …not sure what else to say."

Sora nodded. He knew this kind of story would be hard to address but he couldn't stop himself.

"It's okay, I just wanted to tell someone. My mother was the same before she died."

Naminé smiled.

"In time, maybe we can explain things to each other a little better, huh?"

Sora looked down at her and chuckled.

"Yeah, we're not doing such a hot job."

Naminé laughed softly and ruffled his messy hair. Sora rolled his eyes.

_How affectionate_.

Then the sky caught his attention. He nudged Naminé in the side.

"Here. This is what I want you to see."

Naminé blinked and watched the sun steadily brighten the sky to the point where it was ready to break over the horizon. Sora turned her head back to his face with a calm face, careful not to scratch her with his long nails. He _really_ wanted to clip them.

"No, not the sun. Look at me."

Naminé's breath hitched in her throat but she nodded gently. What did he want her to see when the sun came up?

There was a comforting silence that hung in the air and Sora felt soothing pleasure in the steady increase of her anxious heartbeat. He smiled down reassuringly at her.

"It's okay," he muttered. She gulped down a lump in her throat.

Then the first rays of sun broke the sky.

In the orange light, their faces grew warm and the sun brightened their skin. Naminé smiled as the sun-kissed glow of Sora's natural tan shone handsomely in the morning light. She wanted to continue staring at him like this forever but then he turned his head abruptly to stare into the sun.

As she watched, his irises flashed white and remained the shade for a few moments. Her eyes widened.

Sora's eyes weren't ocean blue or eerily, amber …they were pure white, shockingly vivid against his black pupils. It was a strange thing to see – she'd expected his skin to glitter or his face to morph in a monster but this was a simple alteration of who he really was.

The white was breathtaking as it contrasted against the orange light around them. How did his eyes manage to do that?

_It's because he's a vampire, dumbass._

And she smiled slightly. This was something that confirmed that fact even more.

"Wow."

The wind picked up and blew their bangs around. Sora spoke up.

"This only happens when we're facing the sun at this exact time. And only during the sunrise."

Naminé's face went crestfallen as the white slowly began to vanish away and back to his electric blue irises.

"Does it …hurt?"

Sora shook his head and finally blinked, rubbing his eyes as he did so. When he opened them, the white was gone.

"No, it tingles. But I feel this incredible calm when they glow like that. Like, my entire body is at peace and I don't have any cravings for anything whatsoever."

Naminé pursed her lips then went to reach his hand. It was weird how her emotions transformed around him; terrified, aroused, and relaxed all within less than a week.

But it was a welcomed kind of weird.

"I don't think I want to give you... _that _kind of help, Sora. But thanks for ...showing me this piece of you."

Sora looked back at her. Her face was fresh without makeup, her eyes were bright, and her hair was slightly tousled. She looked younger and more innocent than herself in her simple house clothes. His eyebrows furrowed together in a serious look.

"Naminé, after everything I've done to you …I feel like I should give you the world or something. I could show you everything I have and know and yet, I feel like it's not enough."

The mention of her father made her withdraw a little and Sora sensed it. He frowned slightly and pushed on.

"So long as you want me, I'll stick around but …I'll never be completely gone, got it?"

Naminé's heart pounded when he bent down to kiss her hand.

"_I love you_, you know that."

And Naminé who though nodded seriously, flourished inside with a rush of butterflies. She began to pull away and started to get up off the ground.

"I'm going to go put on the coffee maker," she mumbled shyly through dry lips. "Then, hopefully if you're still here when I get back ...you'll take a cup."

Sora nodded with a small smile and let her walk away.

When Naminé was no longer in view, he fisted his right hand in frustration.

This was bad, very bad.

"_Fuck._"

Naminé wasn't marked yet – she wasn't his. He'd arrived last night with the intention bringing her back to the mansion to do ...everything they'd done last night, in his room. _Because that was the way it was__supposed__ to be!_

Roxas' voice got stuck in his head.

.

_"Then you have to bring her back here to the castle…_

…_and bed her..._

…_then you leave your mark on her."_

_._

Sora mumbled to himself.

"If they find out that I mated with her..."

Sora knew his family.

Ansem and the lot of them were... _generations_ of cruelty. His family operated in the most gruesome and merciless of ways when it came to the safety of the family. Sora used to take enjoyment sometimes in the suffering his relatives or others threatening them. Now after one moment of weakness, he feared the same fates of them would befall him.

Rubbing his head again in frustration, he went to fiddle the end of his necklace as it lay against his black shirt.

He pictured Naminé's slender form in her kitchen, illuminated by sunlight as he listened to her fix the coffeepot, and the way she was probably flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder as she bent over the counter.

Naminé was ...she was the exception to all his mistakes in his life. Finding her and fighting recklessly for her was worth it. He wouldn't lose her, not now, even after he was the one that left her an orphan in this world. No, now it was his obligation to protect and look after her. He would gladly fight down every one of his family members if they so much as touched her.

_And I would do it _even_ if it wasn't my obligation to_.

Suddenly, his ears picked up something.

"Ho-argh stop. NO!_ Who are you?!_"

Sora's head snapped up at the sounds of a scuffle taking place behind the metal door that led down back to the apartments then what sounded like a powerful fist hitting the walls. His eyes widened in fear.

"Naminé?!" he cried and ran for the door. When it threw it open, a gloved hand shot out at his chain so fast, Sora couldn't dodge in time. It yanked him down until he was on his knees then a knee collided with his chin and made the roof spin.

Naminé screamed again in the stairwell and the sound of her struggling made Sora less focused on the attack made on him.

"Na-_nami_-!" he tried to yell but he coughed up saliva in his painful hunch.

"Idiot!"

A familiar male voice spat from above him. Then a quick slap to his head caused Sora to turn his head to ground.

"You fucking _idiot_!"

And when Sora looked sideways, he saw Roxas shaking with controlled rage in his black trench coat.

"R...Ro-_xas!?_" Sora choked out disbelieving.

Naminé gave one more shriek and silence followed, Roxas hauled Sora up to his feet again and punched him in the face. He shook him fervently with his fangs gritting.

"How _could_ you? Do you realise what you've done?! You weren't supposed to _bed_ her! You were supposed to bring her back!"

Sora watched through dizzy eyes as Axel opened the rooftop door and came into view with a dark look on his face. It always gave Sora a chill to see his usually jovial older cousin looking very conflicted and serious. Naminé was trailing behind him soundlessly.

"N-Naminé?"

Sora tried to move around Roxas but failing. He froze when he realised the stillness in her body and the ghostly way her walked across the floor.

When he gazed onto her face, he saw that her clear eyes were dull and dilated and her mouth was mouth slightly as she stared onto the floor.

"Why'd you _compel_ her?!"

Axel said nothing and crossed his arms. Sora tried to lash out at him but Roxas yanked on his necklace and the younger brother pulled back violently.

"_Fuck_!"

The pain ripped through his neck. He went to throw a clawed hand out back at Roxas but the vampire grew fed up and kicked him in the back of the leg.

Sora was a terrible fighter when his emotions took over and his focus on Naminé prevented him from remembering to defend himself. He fell to the ground with a loud _thud_ and tried to support himself on his hands. It was Axel who spoke gently and he narrowed his bright, green eyes

"Sora, we gave you a chance. You should have known the family would come for you after that little stunt Roxas pulled."

"But I didn-"

"You think we don't know? Sora, the girl _reeks_ of vampire saliva!"

"Axel, shut up."

The older cousin made his mouth a tight line but said nothing.

"Roxas," Sora said as he tried to pull his head up. "Roxas, no. Leave her alone. I was going to br-"

Roxas interrupted with tired, angry eyes.

"Ansem gave Riku jurisdiction over your capture after I left. He's ...he's ordered for your imprisonment in the Dispel Chambers and that _she_ be brought to back to the mansion."

Roxas' blue eyes flickered to Naminé's unmoving form and sympathy hung over his head.

The girl had a simple beauty and a gentle aura about her; if he weren't so wound up about his reckless brother, he would have complimented Sora for his apparent new choice in women. After every other prissy female Sora had chased around for kicks in his teens, Roxas comforted in the fact that Sora picked the kind of girl who wore old jeans, modest pyjama tops, and a simple look about her. She wasn't a Kairi, but she was still an effortless kind of beautiful.

He frowned when Sora started to shake his head.

"Guys! Please no, don't take her there! She doesn't know anything!"

Axel butted in.

"Then why does she not have a mark, Sora? _Why_ is she even walking around without some kind of vampiric influence? You're letting her get away with the secret because you love her, I get it. But you're _breaking_ Strigoi rules."

Roxas grabbed a fistful of Sora's hair and pulled his head back. Roxas leaned down over his head until their eyes were perfectly aligned with each other. Sora's widened in realization.

"Roxas, you're my brother. Don't you _dare_ do this…"

He waited until he fought for Sora's pupils to parallel with his. Then after a moment, in a painful yell, Sora's irises turned brown.

Roxas glared softly.

"I have to."

Under Roxas' golden gaze and Sora's body slumped into submission. Axel solemnly watched Roxas threw his younger brother over one broad shoulder and lifted him up.

"I thought you were going to beat him senseless until he collapsed and complied."

Roxas responded with a deep frown as he continued to gaze on the hypnotized young woman behind his cousin.

"I was. But that would have taken too long and we don't have the time."

Axel frowned as Roxas approached the doorframe.

"V-on-V (vampire on vampire) compulsion is too dangerous. You sure it worked?"

He nodded.

"It does because I'm his brother. Remember that."

And Roxas moved past Axel into the hallway.

"Get her something more decent to wear before we head out."

Axel took the opportunity to stare at Naminé and frowned before beckoned her to follow him down the stairs. She followed like ghost and a slave.

He wasn't sure what was worse.

...

..

.

The air smelled of rosewood and ash, like someone was trying to cover up the stench of something dead and rotten with an overpowering sweetness. Naminé grimaced as the tang seemed to creep all through out her body and into her skin. Death was touching her, licking up her arms and legs and across her neck. Her blonde hairs stood on edge and she shivered with wet eyes.

All she could remember was closing the door to the rooftop and turning to head down to the stairs to her apartment. The next thing she knew, a tall shadow crept up behind her and she turned. Then clawed fingers, a shock of red hair, and green eyes...she had screamed as the shadow turned into a man. He held her still with a serious gaze and then suddenly... it was like nothing mattered anymore.

And that's what scared her the most.

The world afterwards went dark, someone had put a dark cloth over her head and she couldn't see. And the voices…

They came in and out like when someone was talking whilst she was asleep with a floor between them.

"…_Lark Naminé Veile..._"

A dark, Euro-accented voice broke once through the unnerving silence and Naminé felt her insides curl sickeningly.

_"…name …an old elegance. Most intriguing..."_

The second was higher and female but it did nothing to comfort her.

"…_Stop! …her… Riku!_"

She should have reacted when it was apparent that Sora was amongst the group of people talking about her, but she couldn't.

After that, it was like the sounds kept going on and off. Her conscience screamed in her head and her nerves were shot but …what could she do? Something pulled her to stay, and she wasn't willing to fight it.

"…_Disspell Chamb…until…_"

"_No! …miné… Naminé!_"

Then a long silence followed with distant mumblings by a man who sounded more like a demon to her. If she could, she would have cried and ran... away into night, from the darkness, and into her father's arms.

_But he's dead. He's dead because of these creatures, and he's never coming back!_

The cloth was eventually removed from her head.

When Naminé looked, she saw she was left alone in a dark room with a chair, crusted walls and candles lit high up. She stood there, somehow dressed in her old white-lace dress, for several hours, horrifically still and unable to move until the feeling began to wear itself away. Her boss, her rent, and the regular world were far from her mind.

Only one thought kept drumming through her head.

Compulsion is real.

Compulsion is real.

Vampires are real.

_These people are all vampires._

And when was Naminé finally able to move her own body, she did nothing and thought of nothing but to collapse on herself and sob.

For the first time since her father's death, since her whole _life _had fallen to pieces, she cried loud and dreadfully for him with every breath she could take.

Nor Sora or his family members came to check on her.

...

..

.

Sora's hair was up at odd angles again and again, as his hands were running through them continuously in deep frustration. Several times he nicked his scalp with his nails because he never got to chance to clip them since before the last time he was imprisoned in the basement. They were longer than he had ever let them grow out, almost as thin as needle points, and just the sight of them almost turned his insides out.

_I'm a vampire!… Naminé, I'm a vampire and you-!_

"Argh!"

Sora threw his hands down at his side and squeezed his fists together so tight the sound of blood dripping down onto the stone floor was loud and quick like an open faucet.

"Hey, _hey!_"

Riku appeared in the celldoor window and slammed a fist against the door to get Sora's attention. His eyes were narrowed with slight concern but more because he was aggravated.

"What the hell, man? Stop!"

Seeing the man responsible for his detainment, Sora grit his teeth, and stormed up to the window. He gripped the bars, growling deeply from the sizzle that started to form in his palms where the holy water was freshly coated.

"_Fuck you_, Riku. As your future Strigoi I _demand _that you let me out!"

Riku scowled.

"You know you can't do shit from inside there, Sora. Cut the crap."

"I don't have to take _any_ kind of orders from you, regardless of whether you're my friend or not. Ansem brought me down here for no damn reason."

"You _know_ the reason. This is your _punishment._"

"For w-!"

"Is that girl …is _she_ Naminé?!"

Sora paused, trying to quell a tantrum building inside him. Riku wouldn't mention her if he already involved in his imprisonment. He narrowed his eyes as the blue irises slowly began to melt away to gold.

"_Where is she?_"

Riku grunted and flashed his eyes angrily at Sora's.

"You know, you're really something! Here I am, trying to _help _you and you can't even pay attention long enough to your old friend t-!"

"You brought her here, didn't you! Riku, you better fucking get me out of here. I-!"

Riku's fist slammed against the door again and Sora stepped away when it finally felt like his skin was going to peel off and his flesh would burn.

"Damnit, Sora! Listen to me!"

"No, Riku! You're under Ansem's order, I get it. But she's in danger here!"

"You think I don't know that? Sora, you had sex with her, _outside _the mansion! You were supposed to bring her _here_, you've broken the third task!"

"I-"

"Do you not see how _pissed _I am?! Roxas is up there fighting with Ansem! Axel left after dropping you and the girl off! Everyone's upset with you… you might not even become the Strigoi now since you've finally proven to be so…so…"

"So what? Tell Riku, what have I been?"

"Negligent!"

Sora ran a bloody hand through his hair and Riku watched with a scowl as some of the bitter blood wiped across the right side of his face. Sora sighed angrily and flickered his eyes to the ceiling.

"Riku…"

"I wanted to be proud when they said you'd lead the family, Sora. But you've …you've grown so arrogant and cocky! You think everyone is at your beck and call and will let you get away with shitty stunts like this because 'oh, you're gonna be the boss one day'."

Sora snapped his head down again to stare at Riku with a dark look. This is what his friend really thought about him?

"Continue Riku, I'm dying to know what other lies you've been telling me!"

Riku crossed his arms, trying to gain composure of his shaky self.

"I stood by you, thinking I could help you. I _thought _I was doing you a favour."

"You're supposed to be my friend, Riku. Not my _teacher._ Why? You think you can do a better job than I can leading this family?"

"I know I can."

Sora shook his head. He couldn't believe this bullshit he was hearing. If there were ever a time where a man felt like his heart was breaking because he found out his buddy was only with him for the status, it would be now.

A moment of pause hung in the air; pregnant and stagnating like a terrible, awkward chill that made Sora sick.

He needed to get out of here, away from Riku, and away from this mansion.

…He needed Naminé – it didn't help that his senses were telling him something was very wrong was happening wherever she was. He needed a way out.

"Then prove it."

Riku had no immediate reaction on his face but the silence betrayed his nonchalant exterior.

"What?"

Sora took a step back, wiping his forehead from frustration as he did so.

"Open that door, and fight me, Riku. _Prove to me_ that you can be a better leader."

Riku glared.

"See? You're doing it _again_. You think being the leader is all about power and survival."

"Isn't it?"

Riku scoffed.

"No wonder Roxas has to continue babying you."

That hit a nerve. Sora gritted his teeth, as his fangs split out. His eyes were still dangerously yellow but as a vampire already, Riku was unaffected by the appearance. He continued to belittle Sora mercilessly.

"You will be a terrible Strigoi. Always relying on the opinions and wisdom of your brother, your cousin, your elders, and your friends. And see how easily that worked out? You should be able to rely only on _yourself._"

And that surprised Sora. He never thought until this point that _that_ was how Riku saw himself and the world around him. But then again, Riku never really talked about himself. It was a frightening thought. Sora frowned slightly and fisted one bloodied hand.

"No, you're wrong."

Riku tilted his head.

"Challenge me."

Sora raised his head just slightly to glare back at the silver-haired twenty-two year old.

"You should always be able to count those around you. I talk big about myself, I admit to that. I'm a dick. But I'd rather listen to what Roxas or Axel tell me than the bullshit spewing from your mouth."

As Sora went over the words in his head, he realized that Riku had never really come to the mansion a lot. Unlike Axel and Roxas who visited him in his apartment and came in and out of the house like he did, Riku was always absent or unwillingly to stop by if he had the time. He was always out on the town searching and prowling. Maybe that's where his self-righteous speech about depending on himself came from.

It made the frown on Sora's face sink lower as he stared onto his best friend.

"You don't accept them like I do. Why? Is it because you're from extended family? I didn't realize… that's _pathetic_, Riku."

Despite himself, Riku growled and wretched the door open. Sora had only a second to react before the other man had his throat in a choke hold. Riku's eyes were angry and golden.

"Don't you _dare_ bring up my upbringing! I _am_ a part of this family."

Sora choked on air as he tried to find his footing. He was considerably weaker than his usual self because he hadn't drank blood in almost four days. He narrowed his eyes threateningly.

"R-Riku. _Don't_."

If Riku knew better, he'd remember where he stood against Sora's prowess and strength. But the older man didn't and continued to squeeze his neck as he tried to push him back into the far wall. The runes around the cell glittered slightly in the torchlight at the appearance of a second vampire in the room.

Riku was furious and unlike himself, torn mentally from his hidden jealously for Sora and the life he was forced to live.

"Because of your apparent flaws, I've _already_ reported your un-preparedness to Ansem and the rest of the family, Sora."

Sora grunted.

"_Riku-!_"

"You can't rule a family like this! You're a _mess_, you always have been, and I'm not going to jeopardize our livelihood like Roxas or Axel are by covering up your flaws!"

Taking the opportunity of Riku's distraction to get control of the situation, Sora quickly reached up to grab Riku's shoulders then bringing his knee upward, he jabbed it into Riku's stomach.

Riku released his throat to back away slowly with a dry cough and Sora used the open chance to punch him in the throat. As expected with heightened senses, Riku dodged it and recovered quickly, jumping back catching Sora's bloodied wrist.

"_Sora!_"

He tried to hold him steady to aim a jab at his neck, but the twenty-year old was stronger and managed to deflect it whilst twisting his arm down in the process. Riku grunted in pain and Sora hooked his leg behind Riku's, bringing him down to his knees. He kicked Riku in the side of the face.

When he was dizzied for moment, Sora moved around behind him and, in the same fashion that Axel had done the first tonight he had overdosed, he pulled Riku's hand all the way back behind him to subdue him.

Riku hissed and his body shuddered. Sora glared down at him.

"Where is _Naminé!?_"

The mansion had too many secret chambers and rooms for him to find her in one shot. He needed some kind of hint and he wasn't about to let up until he did. She was his responsibility now.

Riku gasped when a particularly painful spasm rushed into his arm.

"Na- …N-Naminé is a _witness_. S-She knows about us. You were s-supposed to hyp-hypnotize her!"

Sora didn't like his tone of voice was heading. There was some kind of finality in the way he was listing the girl's penalties.

"_Riku!_ _Answer me!_"

"And then you go and _sleep_ with her. In _her _apartment! _The w-woman whose father you killed and left for the police to find!_ Th-Those are strikes one, two, _and three!"_

Riku cried out when Sora applied more pain than necessary to the twist in his arm but the younger man's eyes were clouded with golden rage.

"WHAT DID YOU TO HER?!"

Riku threw his head around to look back at Sora and glared when he did so, ashamed of the pathetic, arrogant vampire he had become.

Sora needed answers.

"Where _is_ she?"

A dead silence. Sora's body went rigid with a chill.

And then Riku spoke spitting the statement so boldly.

"We're _condemning_ her."

…Sora almost didn't believe it was him who had been the one to say the words. The brunette released his hold on Riku and spun on his heel.

He saw Naminé's face in his mind.

He saw flowers and moonlight …and her terrified gaze on a rapist that was drawing near to kill her.

He didn't need to hear anymore.

With angry, yellow eyes, Sora sprinted out of the celldoor before Riku could blink. He knew he was considerably stronger than his friend and could outrun him even whilst he ran on little blood consumption, but Riku's recovery would be quick.

Sora dashed up the basement's stairs and tore through the oak door into the wine cellar. He already heard Riku's feet pumping after him and he picked up speed.

"SORA!"

His name bounced off the dark walls around him in a dangerous echo and Sora grit his teeth, feeling his fangs pinch his lower lip. Sprinting through the open door to the main floor, he took a hard left into the darkened hallway. As he passed an open window, he realized it was sunset. He hadn't taken notice when he was down in the cell.

_A whole fucking day has passed, and I didn't even know_!

Feeling time slipping further away, he shifted his gaze to the interior of the halls and heightened his vampiric senses, searching for peculiarities and muttering desperately to himself as he did.

"_Where is she…_Come, on! Fuck, where _is _she?!"

Sora passed multiple doors, some open and others closed; every so often in his speed, he'd catch the glimpse of a family member sitting or standing within and just as quick, they'd disappear as he sprinted past. Their reactions were a mystery but it was easy to tell what they thought when the number of feet pursuing him from behind began to increase.

"Sora!"

He heard the voice of his second cousin, Larxene, shriek angrily and she followed behind Riku in the chase.

He almost crashed into his Uncle Sid when he turned a corner heading for the upstairs bedrooms, but quicker than any of the vampires, Sora was able to perform a necessary wall jump after twisting around the older gentleman's torso. Then he was off with a boost.

"Hey!" The blonde haired man immediately spun on his heel and after letting Riku, Larxene and other family members pass, he joined them in the pursuit. Their future Strigoi was on rampage, and whether for amusement or worry, the relatives _did_ _not_ want Sora behaving in such a manner.

The voices and angry thundering of boots and shoes behind him were like the bass of a drum pumping in Sora's ears. He drowned them out and focused his perceived senses on anything out of the ordinary.

Naminé's scent was different and compulsion wore off after several hours so there was a chance she would be moving around if they left her alone.

_To hell with this, I'm getting her and we're getting out of here! They can deal with me later._

He was more concerned with her well being than his own. It would take an army to bring down Sora's endurance.

Too bad there was an army at his heels, but he really didn't notice.

Jumping a few more stairs to the upstairs living quarters, Sora took a hard right at the next corner. His cousin Demyx tried to push off the wall and throw a violent kick to his cheek but Sora dodged it and immediately spun to grab his leg. He pushed it back and threw a right hook to his temple, causing the older boy to hit the wall and succumb to a temporary blackout.

The rest of the family, which was about a group of ten now chasing Sora, rushed passed him unaffected. They were trying to keep at Sora's pace but were growing distance in the stretch. Many of them questioned why the grand halls had suddenly become longer to navigate but didn't say the complaint out loud.

Sora ducked under instinct when his great-aunt Lucille, as youthful looking as she appeared, swiped a clawed hand to his throat. She didn't attempt it to kill him but he kept going and avoided her disapproving glare.

When the running behind him suddenly got too loud, he couldn't take it.

"NAMINÉ!"

His cries drowned out the running and allowed him to focus again. He clicked his feet into high gear and shoved his chain necklace into his black shirt to avoid it catching on anything. He listened.

He heard a book page being turned…

…a crow caw in the distance…

…a slurping sound like someone was drinking…

…some mumbling far off in the distance like two people were having a conversation…

…a car drive past the road of the house…

…a whimper…

_Naminé!_

For all the years he'd grown up in this family. No one ever cried or made sounds as if they were afraid of something. Maybe in pain but …he knew. That was a whimper out of fear. Naminé was in the mansion.

Sora inclined his head down the hall and flickered his eerie yellow eyes to the right. Somewhere in the inner chambers behind one of the rooms, she was being kept.

He immediately ducked into a room and without blinking, Sora phased through the back wall. He melted in a cloud of black ash and reappeared on the other side in another bedroom, then again, into a powder room, and again, into a small parlour room.

If his heart were beating, it would have been pounding relentlessly. His throat was dry from thirst and his head pounded. Sora was angry, hurt, and desperate. He threw all his rationality out the window and couldn't fathom how manic everything had gotten around him.

Just several hours ago, he was with Naminé, confessing himself to her, and it seemed everything would be all right for the two of them.

Then he had to go and ruin it all by forgetting that he was a _vampire_. The soon-to-be _head_ vampire! The one with the obligations to uphold and respectability to maintain.

Now he was forced to flee and jeopardize his title …or lose her forever.

He didn't look back as he heard the other family members continue to chase after him. They were slower, but persistent.

It made his eyes squint and his temples burn. The veins were visible underneath.

_I'm almost there, Naminé. Just hang on._

Sora was about to phase through the wall of the grand library into a secret, inner chamber behind one of the bookshelves, but then a hand shot out and knocked into his neck.

Getting knocked off balance, Sora skidded sideways and had to catch a nearby chair to stop himself from falling. The momentum slowed him instantly and when he tried to pick it up again, Riku had already grabbed him around the middle and was dragging him to the floor.

When Sora looked up in the tumble to see who had stopped him, he saw Ansem putting down his gloved hand with a look a rage on his face. Roxas was beside him, stepping forward with a frown of worry.

"What i-"

Sora tried to answer him but Riku was already attempting to subdue him.

"R-Riku!"

Riku said nothing and tried, with hideous yellowing eyes, to hold him down. He had a look of murder on his face. Few of the other family members stopped in silence and recoiled back in disgrace while others rushed forward and attempted to help Riku hold Sora down.

Samuel and Pence pushed down on Sora's shoulders. Axel, with a solemn face, held his neck steady. Roxas tried to put a hand up to get the silver-haired man's attention.

"Riku! Riku, _stop!_"

"Enough of this foolish, Riku!"

But Ansem's voice went unheeded. Sora clawed at the carpeted floor and he tried to oppositely twist his back and arm away from Riku. The pain was coming, and while Sora was stronger, Riku was blinded by anger. Saliva ran down his chin. Sora cried out a painful sob.

"Argh!"

"Y-You are …a _disgrace_!"

Sora squeezed his eyes shut as they began to flicker blue again.

"R-Ri-!"

Roxas tried to call out again, this time, his face a mix of anger and confusion.

"_Riku!_"

"Look at everyone around you, Sora! Never has the whole family had to _chase_ _down_ one of it's own, in our own home before!"

Sora lifted his head and through half-lidded eyes, he saw that the number of curious, annoyed vampires had increased in the room. He spotted his aunts and uncles, his cousins, and several extended-family members. Kairi was near the front with a blank look on her face. He glared as he finally felt the number of hands pushing him down. He wanted to rip their limbs off.

Riku continued.

"You're fucking _reckless_ and you're putting us all in danger! This isn't always about you! Did you also _forget_ that we're in the middle of a war with the _Nostradamus_? You probably did, seeing as all you can think about is yourself! Your birthright doesn't just affect you, Sora. We _need_ you to be the Strigoi in case Cassel-"

"_Riku!_"

Riku shut his mouth as he was going off topic. The political affairs of the family were unnecessary at the moment, seeing as Sora was too focused on a woman to really give a damn. The family continued to look in trepidation.

"The punishment you were held under is all because your own actions. You allowed Naminé to twist your focus and violate the traditional protocols of this family! Roxas was _never_ so careless with Kairi."

Roxas tightened his mouth as he glared at Riku with malice. But the words resonated with everyone, including Sora. They were hateful, but true. Even Ansem didn't say anything.

Sora began to lean forward away from Riku as he got a better hold on his arm. He bit his lip and went down on one knee.

"F-Face it. She's a loose end! Her death is thanks to _your_ contemptibility as a Strigoi!"

And when it felt like Sora would give out and accept the subjugation in an effort to calm Riku's fury, the older boy leaned down and growled in his ear. His fangs were dangerously close to his earlobe, going too far.

"She's not _even_ worth it."

Sora's eyes snapped open. In a flash of blind fury and brute strength, he wretched himself from the hold of his relatives and a few of them inhaled sharply.

They were not prepared for what happened next.

Sora jumped up with a quick spin. He whirled around and faced Riku, grabbing each side of his face and digging his nails into his cheeks as he held him still. There was a dead look in his face.

Then in two clicks, he twisted Riku's neck.

...

...

..

.

* * *

So tell me, did that suck?

I hope they weren't terribly OOC. Sora sounds like a mush at times but he's a different vampire from the rest. I think he's a schizoid.

*He also isn't from Algeria. I don't know where I should have him born.

And does _Non riesco a trovare i miei calzini_, really translate to _I can't find my socks_? Someone tell me please, haha.

Lol, musical/emotional atmosphere provided by _Take It All Away_ by the Tennessee rock band Red and _You Look So Fine_ again by the group called Garbage.

Review! I hope I can update again. Oy, this was painful.


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